Tales From Pete's World 7 - Alien Abduction
by SciFiFanForever
Summary: The Metacrisis Doctor and Rose investigate alien abductions.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Golden, evening sunlight blazed at the top of the Grand Canyon, North Rim wall, shining like a beacon in the dim twilight of the Bright Angel Canyon. The sound of running water could be heard echoing around the rock walls, coming from the Bright Angel Creek, as it made it's way to the Colorado River. The only people in the valley, were two, dark skinned women, who wearily 'flumped' down onto one of the picnic benches at the Cottonwood Campsite, shrugging off their rucksacks. They took out their water bottles and eagerly took mouthfuls of the refreshing water.

Trish Jones had arranged this trip for her little sister, Marla, after passing her exams and becoming a doctor. The whole family were so proud of her, and after the years of hard work and study, she wanted her to get away from it all for a week before she started her clinical placement at The Republican Hope Hospital in London.

Marla reached over and held her sister's hand. "That was one hell of a hike, but God was it worth it to see that view," she said, looking up the valley at the canyon.

"Yeah, isn't it just, I'm glad I applied for the backcountry permit when I did, apparently they go like hot cakes."

"So you arranged all this before I even took my exams?"

"Well yeah, I always knew my little sis' would make it."

"I wish you'd have told me you knew I was going to pass, 'cos I sure as hell didn't."

They both laughed, and Marla nodded at the rucksacks. "We'd better get the tent up; it gets dark and cold pretty quick when the sun goes down."

They quickly put up the 'sprung' tent, which had pre-formed wires that unfolded into the shape of the tent, and fastened it down to the earth with hooks and guy ropes. That done, they put down the foam mattresses with their sleeping bags on top.

"There, set for the night," Trish said with a satisfied smile.

Marla had hung the rucksacks on the T-pole, and put the food in the metal box by the picnic table, before rummaging through to see what they could have for supper. Trish was assembling the small Primus stove, ready to boil some water for a cup of tea, and cook whatever Marla brought to the stove.

"Bread rolls and sausages, how's hotdogs sound?" Marla said, sitting down next to her sister in the tent opening.

"Brilliant!" She made two cups of tea, and then put the frying pan on the stove to cook the sausages. They drank their tea whilst the sausages were cooking, and Marla stood up and wandered over to the creek, where she'd put some cans of beer in the water to chill them down. When she returned to the tent, Trish was just putting the sausages into the rolls, when she saw the refreshments on offer.

"Hah! That's perfect."

They ate their hotdogs, and drank their beer as they chatted and looked over the guide brochure to hiking the North Kaibab Trail.

"So, we've seen the Roaring Springs on the way down, tomorrow we should see the Ribbon Falls, it looks fabulous," Marla said, showing her the pictures in the brochure.

Trish agreed with her, and they carried on drinking their beer and chatting about everything that close sisters talked about. When they had finished, it was dark, and the sky was cloudless. Being from the city, they had never seen a night sky with no light pollution, and they both gasped in wonder at the clarity of the stars and nebulae

"Oh my God, it's beautiful," Trish said. Marla was too awestruck to speak. "LOOK! Shooting stars, quick, make a wish."

And Marla did make a wish, she wished that this special moment she was sharing with her sister would never end. "C'mon, let's lie in our sleeping bags and watch the sky," she said, and they slipped off their hiking boots and padded body warmer jackets, and wriggled into their warm cocoons.

After a few hours of oohing and aahing at the celestial show, the air got really chilly, and it was time to zip up for the night. Trish slipped her boots and jacket on and went to the small toilet shack on the other side of the small campsite. When she came back, Marla did the same to empty her bladder for the night.

When she came out of the shack, she noticed a bright glow behind a rocky outcrop where the creek made a ninety degree turn. She knew from the brochure, that some people did night hikes along the trail, and presumed it must be some of those. Why were they using that bright a light though? Was there an emergency? Maybe they needed some medical assistance.

She thought about disturbing her sister, but there again, it might be nothing, so she decided to have a look first of all and see if she could offer any assistance. She laced up her boots, and set off with her torch in hand, to walk the few tens of yards, to look around the bend.

**Torchwood South Tower, New York. **

**Special Operations Despatch Office. 03:55 hours EST.**

"Todd, we've got an alert from the emergency phone at Cottonwood Campsite in the Grand Canyon, and radio communications from a ranger at the Pump House Ranger Station," Steven Adams told the shift supervisor.

Todd Hunter walked over to the high tech communications desk. "What's the alert?"

"Missing woman, a doctor, hiking with her sister. Went to the toilet and never came back."

"Damn, not another missing person, that's the fourth one this month."

"Ah, these women are foreigners, Peoples Republic of Great Britain."

"Right, get a team on the airship, and get over there ASAP. Also, check the satellites; see if one was over the area, we might get lucky. I'll contact our colleagues in London and see what they can find on these women, see if there's a reason why one of them would go missing, although I doubt it."

He went through to the supervisor's office, sitting down at the desk and speed dialling Torchwood One at Canary Wharf in London. Andy McNab's face appeared on the video phone.

"Todd, good to see you, how's your father?" Andy said cheerfully, they were just on change of shift as it was 08:00 in London. Todd's father was Gene Hunter, head of Special Operations in New York, and Andy's counterpart over there.

"Hi Captain; Pop's fine thanks, he'll be on duty at 08:00. I'll get straight to the point Captain, we've just had a report of another missing person in mysterious circumstances, and I know you've got a couple of agents in the field investigating alien abductions."

"Oh, right, what have you got?"

"A young British woman disappeared from a campsite in the Grand Canyon, right from under her sister's nose."

"Any details?" Andy asked, pressing a button on his desk that changed their status to amber.

"Steve on Despatch is just talking to the ranger who took the emergency call; I'll put us on conference…. Steve, I've got Captain McNab on the line, can you recap what we know."

"Ranger Kovac, can you repeat what you just told me for my supervisors please," Steve asked.

"We received an emergency call at about a quarter to one Mountain Standard Time, from a distraught woman with a British accent. She said she had fallen asleep while her sister went to the toilet shack. She woke up around half twelve, realised she wasn't in the tent and went looking for her. When she couldn't find her she used the emergency phone."

"Do we have an I.D yet for the missing woman?" Todd asked.

"Marla Jones, a newly qualified doctor, on vacation after passing her exams. Her sister, Trish Jones reported her missing, both women are from London," Ranger Kovac said.

"Good work Ranger," Todd said. "We'll be in touch, Steve, any luck with the satellites?"

"Yes, believe it or not, there was one right over the Canyon at the time; I'm just downloading the data now."

"Great news Todd, I'll get Chrissie to review the data, it might be the break we've been waiting for."

**Location: Unknown**

**Time: Unknown**

Marla opened her eyes, and wasn't sure if they had obeyed, it was still pitch black darkness. She blinked, and it was still pitch black, no help there then. Her ears were working though, she could hear a humming sound coming from all around her, and her sense of touch was working also, she could feel the smooth floor she was sitting on was gently vibrating. What all that meant though, she had no idea.

She got onto her hands and knees, and started to crawl forwards, hoping to find something familiar that she could relate to. She had a flashback to the Cottonwood Campsite, and the bright glow coming from around the bend in the creek. She stopped crawling and knelt down when she realised what she had seen around that bend.

"Oh my God!" she gasped. "It was a flying saucer!" That's all she could remember, before opening her eyes on the blackness here. But that was ridiculous, there were no such things as aliens and flying saucers. Even that thing all those years ago with the Cybermen, they were man made, and the stars going out, wasn't that some sort of natural phenomenon in the atmosphere?

She continued her crawl for another couple of feet and 'clunk'; she hit her head against something. Putting her hand up and feeling, she realised that it was a wall, presumably of a room that she was in. She put her ear against the wall, and was certain she could hear some kind of guttural clicking and jabbering, as though someone were speaking in a bizarre language.

Without warning, the background hum increased in volume and pitch as she was pressed against the wall by her own weight. Whatever kind of room she was in, it was accelerating at high speed. The pressure eased off as whatever kind of vessel the room was in, stopped accelerating, and cruised at a constant speed.

And then, sometime later, she wasn't sure how long, maybe an hour, maybe two, she slid along the floor, and bumped into the opposite wall as the vessel apparently decelerated.

'Why has someone gone to all this trouble to make me think I've been abducted by aliens?' she thought to herself, convinced that she was on an airship. What happened next though, would take some explaining with conventional wisdom. He eyes started to see light, a hazy, blurring light that surrounded her body, and then she was sitting in a small, featureless grey walled room.

"Do you speak English?" a soft, friendly female voice said. "Parlez-vous français...? ¿Habla usted español…? Sprechen Sie Deutsch...?"

As she blinked against the unfamiliar light, it took her a while to realise what was going on, the woman wanted to talk to her.

"English…, I speak English," she told the disembodied voice, as she stood up.

"Language identified, Sol Three, English. No further speech is required from you. Please cooperate with all instructions, you will not be harmed, but failure to comply will result in punishment."

"But where am I, what's going on…."

"No further speech is required from you. Please stand still with your hands by your sides."

"Why, what's going to happen?"

"No further speech is required from you. You will not be harmed during the induction."

"Induction…?" Three mechanical arms lowered from a metre diameter disk on the ceiling until the ends were at her waist height.

"No further speech…." The arms started to rotate around her, emitting a web-like material that started to wrap her body in a tight cocoon, holding her in place, by three strands from the mechanical arms. "... Is required from you."

Marla screamed. "What's happening? HELP! HELP!"

"No further speech is required from you. You are now safely immobilised for the placement of the obedience collar."

"What obedience collar? There's been a mistake, I…."

"No further speech…."

"Is required from me, I know, you said. Will you stop saying that?"

"... Is required from you."

Three more arms, only about a foot in diameter this time, started to descend. They were supporting a ring of gold metal, which was approximately three inches wide, which went over her head, and rested on her shoulders. The arms dropped the ring and retracted back to the ceiling, as the ring contracted towards her neck.

'Oh my God, they're going to strangle me', she thought and started to scream. She couldn't struggle, because the cocoon wouldn't let her. The gold ring gently fitted itself around her neck, and stopped at a snug fit. She stopped screaming, when she realised that she wasn't going to be choked.

"Obedience collar in position; obedience collar is now active. Any failure to comply will now be punished."

"Really?" she said sarcastically. "Do your worst."

There was a jolt in her neck, the kind you get from a static discharge, which made her yelp. 'Okay', she thought, 'Maybe I'll shut up for a bit'.

She felt a soft sponge press into her back and turned her head to look, as the black mattress lifted her feet and lowered her head to form a floating bed. A circular doorway opened in the wall, and she started to move feet first through the door, turned left, and moved down a featureless, grey corridor. Another round hole opened in a wall and she passed through into a room she could only describe as a zoo.

She floated past cages, six feet square and made of hexagonal shaped mesh that formed holes that were six inches in diameter. That wasn't the worst of it though, because the cages contained all manner of creatures from her nightmares. Scaly, furry, red, green, blue, grey..., human.

A round hole opened in one of the cages, and her 'bed' floated in head first, coming to a rest, two feet off the floor. She just lay there, in shock, trying to think of a rational explanation for what was happening. An elaborate practical joke? It certainly wasn't funny. A science fiction film's special effects, but what the hell was she doing in the film?

She looked to her right, and saw a naked woman with green, reptilian skin, wearing a rather fetching metallic blue collar, who was squatting over a hole in her cage, having a pee (charming). To her left, there was a young blonde woman, sitting cross legged and naked except for a diamante collar. The special effects department must have overrun the budget, because she was just an ordinary human girl…, who looked vaguely familiar.

It was her face that caught Marla's eye, she had her mouth open, and was looking at her in astonishment, as though she knew her and was amazed that she was here…, wherever here was? When she turned her head, she realised that the cocoon around her shoulders wasn't as tight as before, and started to strain against it. Yes, it was starting to dissolve, she could feel it, it was starting to creak and crack.

With a satisfying splitting sound, she managed to pull her right arm free, noticing that the sleeve of her lumberjack shirt was no longer there. 'Uh-oh', she thought, as she managed to pull her left arm out and the same thing happened. The web of the cocoon was now crumbling, and so was her clothing with it, by the time she'd brushed the last of the web off her, she was naked and very self conscious.

"What kind of perverts are they?" she said, and immediately got a jolt from the collar. "Aaargh."

She heard a cup banging on a cage and looked over to the blonde who was making a cutting gesture across her diamante collar, and putting her finger to her lips in the universal gesture of 'shush'.

{"Hi,"} she mouthed silently. {"I'm Rose."}


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Planet: Merope IV.**

**Pleiades Cluster. **

Doctor John Smith, the Gallifreyan-Human hybrid, was carefully walking through the clearing in the woods, of the remote alien environment, using his sonic screwdriver to scan the undergrowth. The troop of Jadoon guards, who looked like rhinoceroses in spacesuits, was standing back so that they didn't contaminate the area, and were watching for any curious locals.

The planet was borderline level five, and as a whole had a moderate level of technology; it was starting to experiment with rockets that would eventually achieve orbit. Some individuals however, had already achieved orbit and mysteriously disappeared.

The Shadow Proclamation, who were the 'space police' in the galaxy, had asked John, and Torchwood for help in their investigation. Torchwood was happy to get involved, as a number of humans had recently gone missing from remote locations in mysterious circumstances.

There had been reports of alien abductions before of course, and the benefactor of Torchwood, New York was a victim himself. Those abductions however, were scientific research missions, by various species 'keeping an eye' on the development of the potentially dangerous human race.

Since John's arrival in 'Pete's World' though, those missions were phased out under the threat of John stopping them if they didn't. 'If you think humans are dangerous, wait until you see what I can do,' he told one research mission. The latest disappearances however, were different, because the abductees didn't come back, and the conspiracy sites were buzzing with theories.

What Torchwood did know, was that the abductions were one; by some off world agency, as there was no way any Earth technology could do it without being detected. Two; the abductors were somehow cloaked and managed to avoid detection, only after the event could satellite imagery spot some tell tale signs that an off world vessel had visited a remote location.

"Have - you - found - anything - yet?" the Judoon Commander asked, in his typical clipped, guttural speech.

John stood up and looked at the holographic display from his sonic. "Yes," he barked in Juddon speech. "There - is - residue - from - manoeuvring - thrusters. It - should - tell - me - what - type - of - ship - landed."

"Good, - we - should - leave." Without any preamble, the troop turned as one, and marched towards the amazing blue, wooden box that brought them here.

"I guess that's that then," he said with a smirk and followed them back to the TARDIS.

After dropping the Judoon off at the three asteroid headquarters, he made his way back to Torchwood One at Canary Wharf, where he landed in the designated area of the Standby Room, in the Special Operations Unit. As he stepped out of the TARDIS, he was greeted by members of Blue Watch who weren't out on a shout.

Gwen O'Toole, who was Jack's field partner, and Julia De Graff, approached John, looking concerned. "How's Rose?" Julia asked, knowing that the two of them had a telepathic 'bond'.

"She's fine, I spoke to her last night, and she's fine. A bit embarrassed by it all, but they're in no danger," he told them.

"And Jack?" Gwen asked.

John chuckled, as he remembered what Rose had told him. "They're not allowed to speak there, but he's naked and still managing to flirt."

The ladies burst out laughing at that news. "I'll let Rex know that he's alright," Gwen said. "But I think I'll leave out the bit about naked flirting."

"I don't think Rex would expect anything less from his partner," Julia said with a smirk.

"John, good to see you back," Andy said as he came out of his office. "How did it go, did you find any clues?"

"Hi Andy, yeah, I've got some more thrusters residue." He held up some plastic evidence bags with alien greenery in them. "I'll just get these down to Forensics, and then I really need to go and see the kids."

Andy understood this, what with Rose being away on a mission, and him being the only parent available. He held his hand out for the samples. "Here, I'll get someone to run them up to the lab; you get off home and see to your family. Have you heard from Rose?"

"Yeah, she spent the night with me here," he said, tapping his temple. "She's fine, but it doesn't mean that I don't miss her, if you know what I mean," he said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Andy chuckled and slapped his back; he knew exactly what he meant. "Go on, get off with you, I'll give you a call when the results are in."

"Thanks Andy…, see you later." He went back into the TARDIS, and a few seconds later, it started to disappear with a wheeze and a grind, reappearing in the living room of Tyler Mansion as it did so.

"DADDY!" the four year old Eyulf shouted as he ran towards him, holding his arms out to be picked up. John hoisted him up into a hug and swung him around.

"Hiya Son, have you been a good boy for Grumpy and Grandma?"

Ricky the cyber dog trotted over and started sniffing around John's boots, as Eyulf started telling him about his day. He was interrupted though by his twenty month old sister, who had seen her father and started tottering towards him.

"Da-da-da-da-da," she chuckled, as she reached up towards him.

"Hello Sweetheart," he said as he put Eyulf down, and picked her up for a hug and a kiss.

When he looked over to the sofa, he could see Pete and Jackie smiling at him, but there was concern in their eyes.

"Afternoon John, how's it going?" Pete asked.

"How's Rose doin' is what ya want to be askin', yer dope," Jackie chided, and John couldn't help but have a little laugh, 'she'll never change' he thought to himself.

"Mummy's fine Grandma, she's with Uncle Jack and they've got no clothes on," Eyulf told her helpfully.

John closed his eyes and cringed. "Thanks Son, I don't think Grandma needed to know that."

"Didn't need to know that! Where is this investigation, in a nudist colony?" she asked indignantly, Pete unsuccessfully stifled a laugh.

John sat down on a sofa with his daughter on his lap, and EJ sat next to him. "They're in a sort of alien kennel, where they are being trained to be a sort of pet slave."

"Pet slave?!" Jackie exclaimed. "Did you know about this?" she had turned on Pete now, who sort of slid down into the sofa, hoping it would swallow him.

"Yes he did Jackie, and for a change, she's not in any danger, and apart from a bit of humiliation and loss of dignity, she's being well treated."

"Humiliation? Loss of dignity?" Jackie said.

"Is there an echo in here," John said, and Eyulf burst into laughter.

Seeing her grandson laughing, took some of the fire out of Jackie's indignation, and she calmed down as John tried to explain.

"They are in a fully automated holding facility. There's no one to protest to, no one to complain to, no appeals, the only way out is to do as you are told and behave yourself so that your new owner will take you to their home where you will be their pet, and domestic servant."

Ricky the cyber dog came trotting over and sat at John's feet, wagging its spring tail, as if emphasising what he was telling her.

He nodded down at Ricky. "Not a bad life if you're non sentient I suppose, but this place is taking all sorts of people, and forcing them to be slaves. Now I've checked with Rose, and she is fine with everything, if it results in this place being closed down. The moment she has had enough, I'm in there and pulling her out."

He was looking defiantly at Jackie, and she could see the love and the passion in his eyes. She'd come to expect nothing less from her daughter, a champion for the defenceless and downtrodden.

"Well…, if she's alright with it, then I suppose…. The moment she's had enough, yeah?"

"She's my wife…, their mother," he said, nodding at his children who he was hugging. "I won't let anything happen to her."

She saw the conviction in his eyes, and nodded with a smile. "Cup of tea then," she said, drawing a line under the conversation. John felt a warm glow in his mind.

["Give them a hug and a kiss for me,"] Rose thought at him.

"Mummy!" EJ said and thought.

"Ma-ma!" Juleshka echoed.

John saw Jackie's and Pete's questioning looks and spoke out loud as he thought to her. ["Hi Sweetheart, how are you?"]

["Fine thanks, a bit busy at the mo' talk to ya later."]

["Okay, talk to you later; I'll give them a hug and a kiss. Bye."]

Jackie smiled and reached for Pete's hand. "I wish I knew how you lot do that, 'cos it's really reassuring."

John gave her a knowing smile. "To be honest, I don't know if I'd be able to cope without it."

**Pets-Assist Kennels Training Facility.**

**Location: Unknown at present.**

'Oh my God', Rose thought to herself. 'Martha Jones! I don't believe it, it's this world's version of Martha Jones, what are the chances?' {"Hi, I'm Rose,"} she mouthed, as she reached her arm through one of the holes in her cage towards Martha, and Martha reached through her cage to grab her hand.

{"Hi, I'm Marla Jones,"} she mouthed back, and was puzzled by the expression on Rose's face. She looked as though she didn't believe that she knew her own name.

{"Marla?"}

{"Yeah,"} she nodded. {"Why?"}

Rose shook her head. {"It doesn't matter. That's Jack,"} she mouthed, pointing to a cage opposite hers.

Marla looked over to the cage, and saw a handsome man grinning at her, his right hand waving through on of the holes. She couldn't help notice that he was naked as well, except for a black collar, with silver studs on it that really suited him.

{"Well, hello there. Nice to meet you Marth…. Marla Jones,"} he mouthed, with a wink.

Marla couldn't help notice that it was not only Jack's hand that was poking through one of the holes in his cage. In a hole below his waist, there was another part of his anatomy saying hello. Okay, she was a doctor, and had seen those things before, but this was a particularly fine example. Her dark skin went darker, as she blushed, and she looked quickly back at Rose, who was rolling her eyes and shaking her head,

{"Jack!"} She mouthed at him.

Marla risked a look back at him to see him shrugging, and mouthing, {"What? I was just saying hello."}

These two people seemed to be relaxed and smiling about their predicament, so it couldn't be that bad, she thought. {"So what's going on, where are we...? Hang on…, Rose? Are you Rose Smith? THE Rose Smith, the Vitex heiress?"}

Rose gave her one of her broad smiles and nodded. {"Yeah, that's me. It's a bit complicated, but don't worry, we'll get you out of here. It's a bit humiliating, but just do as you are told, and you'll be fine."}

{"Why, what do they want with us?"}

{"We are being groomed and trained to be well behaved pets…, slaves,"} Rose mouthed.

{"Pets?"}

{"Yeah, this is a galactic version of Battersea Dogs Home. We are going to be pampered pooches, so get some sleep, tomorrow you've got to learn to obey commands in an alien tongue."}

{"This is mad!"} Marla mouthed, shaking her head in disbelief.

Rose grinned at her. {"Welcome to my world."}

* * *

After having their evening meal at the Tyler's, John took his children home in the TARDIS, and spent the early evening playing with them in the living room before getting their pyjamas on and taking them up to bed. He then went to his home office and went over the results of the thrusters residue samples that he'd collected earlier in the day, comparing it with other samples taken on other planets, and by agents here on Earth. He had expected the results to be the same, and was puzzled when they were not. So far, he'd found three different engine configurations, that were used by three different civilisations.

He took a sip of his tea, and felt the warm feeling in his head.

[Y'know, I can put up with the nakedness, the subjugation, and the indignity of it all, but the worst bit, is not bein' able to have a cup of tea."]

John chuckled in his head. ["How's the training going?"]

["I'm a model student, I know all the commands I've been taught, and I learnt how to use an alien vacuum cleaner,"] she thought with a cheeky grin. ["Oh, an' you'll never guess who arrived this evenin'."]

["Who?"]

["This world's version of Martha. She's called Marla here."]

["Oh wow, Marla Jones, she mysteriously disappeared from the Grand Canyon in the early hours of the morning."]

["She's in the cage next to me, lookin' all confused and terrified. I'll take her under my wing and look after her."]

John smiled at his wonderful wife, ignoring her own discomfort to help someone else. ["I'll send word to her family and let them know that you are looking after her. Have I told you lately that I love you?"]

["Not in the last..., ooh..., fourteen hours or so."]

["Let's correct that oversight then."] He guiltily finished his tea, and made his way up to the bedroom, where he got undressed and climbed under the duvet.

["Okay Sweetheart, would you care to join me and snuggle?"]

Rose gave a giggle of anticipation as John opened his mind to her, and they joined each other in their shared place. John was still in bed, in their bedroom, but he had a leash in his hand. He followed the direction of the leash and saw it attached to a diamante collar around his naked wife's neck.

"Mmmm, that's a new look for you, I could get used to that," he said, waggling his eyebrows and gently pulling her towards him.

"So could I," she said, suddenly feeding a chain though her hands. He could see the chain leading towards him, and felt it lying across his chest. When he reached up, he could feel a thick leather collar with spikes on it, around his neck.

He pulled her towards him with the leash, and she willingly approached, pulling herself towards him with the chain. She crawled up onto the bed, and knelt over him.

"Hello," she said cheekily, pulling up on the chain to lift his head off the pillow.

"Hello," he said with a giggle, and those were the last coherent words they said to each other as their lips and bodies met for a night of virtual, mental pleasure.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The gentle 'bong' of the morning alarm woke Rose and she sat up, swinging her legs off the bed and standing up. She had spent the night with John in her head, and felt comforted, refreshed, and ready to face another day of humiliation. She looked over at Martha..., Marla, and could see that the trauma of the previous night had taken its toll, she was fast asleep. She picked up her cup, and banged it on her cage to wake Marla up.

"Wha?" Marla said, and was immediately awake, as a jolt of static went through her neck. "Aargh."

A number of metal orbs, with cables dangling from them, floated into the room and positioned themselves outside each cage, with a round doorway opening in each cage. Rose looked over to Martha, damn..., Marla. {"Follow my lead,"} she mouthed, and Marla nodded.

"Attach the leash to your collar now," the friendly female voice commanded.

Rose stepped out of her cage and reached for the end of the cable dangling from her orb, found the clip on the end and attached it to the metal ring on her collar, which locked in to place for the day. She looked over to Marla, waggled her eyebrows, and gave her a friendly smile. Marla found the clip, and attached it to her collar, which she only just realised had got a ring at the front.

"Walk to heel," the orbs said in various languages, and proceeded to lead everyone out of the kennels. Rose reached her hand back, and Marla grabbed it like her life depended on it, as they went through a circular hole into what appeared to be a showering facility. Rose was led with a group to the left, whilst Marla was gently tugged straight on with a mixed group, and Jack went to the right with another group.

They were standing on floor grating, and warm soapy water was sprayed from the ceiling. Rose worked it into her hair and over her body; this was the only real luxury they had here. She cast a glance over at Jack, who was also enjoying the shower. He caught her looking at him and gave her a cheeky grin and wink, with a nod down at his nether regions.

Marla was lathering her body, whilst looking to Rose for reassurance. Rose gave her a friendly smile, as the leash gently tugged her forward to the rinse area, where clean, warm water washed away the soap. The final area had warm jets of air blasting up from the floor grating, the sensation of which, actually made Marla smile. When she looked at Rose, her hair was flying around her head like a blonde halo.

After the shower, they were guided down another featureless corridor to a large, communal dining hall. Marla did a quick calculation, counting a row and a column of benches, and multiplying together; to work out that there must be over a hundred individuals here. She was startled, when Rose and Jack came and held each of her hands and led her to a bench where they could sit together.

She felt the orb tugging gently on her collar, and noticed that Rose and Jack were holding theirs like helium balloons, so she grabbed the cable and got her own back on the orb by tugging it sharply and letting it trail behind her.

{"Free movement in a communal area,"} Rose mouthed as she swung her leg over the bench. {"We are encouraged to interact with other species; it makes us more attractive to potential owners if we integrate well."}

Marla sat down rather demurely, with her legs firmly together and swung them both over the bench, not wishing to flash her 'lady bits' to all and sundry. Having her tits out for all to see was bad enough. Rose on the other hand had gotten used to being naked; when she and John visited their beach tree house on their deserted planet they called Paradise.

Jack just did the bloke thing, and as Rose had done, swung one leg over, then the other, giving Marla an eyeful of his manly parts, and a wicked smile. Marla's skin went a darker shade again as she blushed, and realised that close up, he was hung like the proverbial donkey, and gorgeous with it. Jack was used to being naked because he was..., well, just Jack. Rose leaned across her and gave Jack a playful slap on the arm. Jack lifted his hands in a 'what have I done now?' gesture.

On the table in front of them were bowls containing dough-like balls of food of various sizes and colours, and a handless cup of water. Jack and Rose had picked up a pale green ball and were biting into them. Marla did the same, and she was surprised that it tasted really nice.

{"What happens next then?"} Marla mouthed to Rose.

{"You'll be taken to a display area where potential owners will come and have a look at you."}

{"God, that is SO demeaning."}

{"Tell us about it. When you have been chosen, you will be taken to a training room and taught basic commands in your owner's language. Be prepared for a few collar shocks today as you learn the ropes."}

{"This is so barbaric, isn't there anyone we can complain to, tell them what's going on?"} She mouthed as she picked up a small orange ball from the bowl. Rose gently guided her hand back to the bowl and waved her other hand in front of her mouth, indicating that the orange ball was too hot and spicy.

{"It's a fully automated facility; the inmates are the only living things here as far as we can tell. The prospective owners seem to be shuttled in by representatives of this place; they choose their 'pet'..."} Rose air quoted 'pet'. {"... and then are shuttled out again."}

{"Well, when we leave here with our new 'owner'..."} Marla air quoted 'owner'. {"... Can't we tell them what's going on?"}

Rose tapped her diamante collar. {"Smart technology, these collars not only monitor your speech, but your behaviour as well. There's one alien here who must be from a warrior race, he is continually being choked to unconsciousness for not cooperating."}

Marla looked suitably disturbed as she picked up another food ball and went to bite it, but didn't, her mouth was open and her eyes were wide and fixed on a couple of Catkind aliens across the dining hall.

She turned to Rose, and pointed at them. {"Are those cats…, shagging?"}

Rose looked where she was pointing, and saw a female humanoid cat lying face down across the table, resting on her elbows, and munching on a food ball, with her partner standing behind her, going 'at it' like a..., well..., a randy tom cat. Rose gave them a cheery wave and the couple waved back, if somewhat distractedly.

{"Yeah, they are a nice couple. It's a shame they are in separate cages, communal areas are the only place they can express their love for each other."}

{"But that's…, that's…, disgusting!"}

{"We know; that's why we are here. People like that deserve to be together, not separated out for some commercial venture. Once Jack and me have been collected by our owners, we can find out who sold us, who kidnapped us, and then bust them."}

That wasn't the kind of disgusting Marla meant, but if Rose and Jack were going to blow the lid on this place, then that was fine by her. There was a gentle 'bonging' noise, which made Rose and Jack finish their water, and grab a couple more of the food balls. Marla presumed that breakfast was over.

"Stand," her orb commanded, and she, along with everyone else stood up.

"Walk to heel." Rose, Jack, and Marla were led off in different directions. Rose could see that Marla was looking very apprehensive, and gave her a cheery wave.

{"See you later,"} she mouthed, as she was led out of the dining hall.

The training for Rose and Jack had been fairly straightforward for them, who, thanks to the TARDIS, were able to understand and speak any language. The first day had been a bit 'shocking', as they learnt what acceptable and unacceptable behaviour was. The second and third days had been learning to walk to heel, sit, lie, wait, beg, shake hands, fetch objects, and use cleaning equipment to command.

Rose was led to a training room that was a mock up of an alien bed-sit, where she learned to integrate into her owners family life, 'In their dreams!' she thought.

"Tidy the reading material that is on the table," her orb told her.

'A please wouldn't hurt' she thought, as she fixed a smile on her face and gathered up the magazines and put them into the rack on the end of the table.

"Good girl, you have earned a reward." She knew that if she held her hands under the orb in a begging gesture, she would get a jelly bean sweet, which were quite nice really, but she declined the offer.

"Wash up the items in the sink." And so her day of training began…, with a smile of course.

Marla had one of the most humiliating experiences of her life, when she had to stand in a line with a dozen other unfortunate abductees, while potential owners looked them over. The aliens were humanoid, with skin of pale green scales, and yellowish faces, with two green antennae that arose from just above their foreheads.

Their hair appeared to be made from some kind of tendrils, which made them look as though they had dreadlocks; they were looking at her appreciatively, which caused her to cover her breasts and pubic area with her hands.

"Stand still with your hands by your side," her orb said, giving her a gentle static shock to make her comply. The alien family were saying something, but she couldn't understand the language. The man said something to the orb.

"Open your mouth and show your teeth." Marla reluctantly did what she was told, and the man gently held her chin and moved her head from side to side as he looked in her mouth. He nodded in satisfaction, as the woman held her hands and examined them, turning them over to inspect her palms. She then did something Marla wasn't expecting, and gently examined and squeezed her breasts.

Her reaction was instinctive and automatic; she batted the alien hands away, and attempted to say 'don't touch what you can't afford sister'. "Do...uuurghhh," she managed to say, before the collar immediately gave her a sustained static charge which paralysed her vocal chords, and caused her knees to buckle.

The alien family looked genuinely alarmed and upset by what was happening to her, and their dreadlocks stood on end, stretching a flap of skin between them like a fan, which made them look frightening and intimidating, as they started jabbering at the orb, frantically waving their arms. "Ketch, ketch," they were shouting, which Marla presumed meant 'stop'.

The shock stopped, and she gasped for breath. The alien woman stepped forwards and gently held her shoulders, lifting her back to her feet. "Coom arlarney," she said with tears in her eyes. "Coom shay, shay, arlarney." Again, Marla had a guess at the language, and presumed she was saying 'sorry'.

"The customers apologise for any misunderstanding that may have led to you being punished, however, speech and unacceptable behaviour will not be tolerated," her orb told her.

Marla nodded and smiled at the woman, squeezing her hand to say thank you. Their alarm response was subsiding, and their dreadlocks slowly fell back to their normal position. The woman looked to the man, who nodded, then at the children, who also nodded excitedly, before turning back to look at her. She smiled and stroked Marla's cheek, talking to her in a bubbling language, the children cheering and jumping up and down, clapping their hands.

"You have been chosen, you are permitted to show your appreciation," her orb announced, as the children came and hugged her around the waist, and the woman stroked her hair and the side of her face. She felt awkward, but her professional training kicked in, and she gently reassured the children by stroking their dreadlocks.

**Multimedia Laboratory.**

**Torchwood One.**

Christine 'Chrissie' Anderson, the Torchwood Technical Support Lead Specialist, was reviewing the satellite data that had been sent from Torchwood New York. John was sitting by her side, lending a second pair of very intelligent and experienced eyes to the review.

"This is the infra red from the satellite of the Cottonwood area," she said, indicating heat sources with a cursor. "Three heat sources, two at thirty seven Celsius, and one at a hundred, probably a camping stove."

"Okay, the sister, Trish…, that is so weird," he said distractedly.

"What is?"

"Oh, the two sisters, I knew them in the other universe, only they were named Martha and Tish."

"Wow! That IS spooky."

"Yeah, anyway, Trish said that they lay there for an hour or two, watching the skies, so let's run forward."

They watched the two dots of their heads, sticking out of the sleeping bags, and then one heat source became elongated as Trish got out of her sleeping bag and moved across the campsite.

"Okay, normal speed," John said. "That's Tish going to the toilet."

"Trish," Chrissie corrected.

"Yeah, sorry; when she comes back, Marth…, Marla should go next."

They watched the Trish heat source return to the tent and the Marla source go to the toilet. When she left the toilet, she went halfway to the tent and then stopped for a few seconds, before heading away from the campsite. Approximately forty metres from the campsite her heat source vanished.

"What?" Chrissie said. "Where'd she go?"

John was silent; he was studying the data and the colour scale on the graphic display. "Thermal resolution is one degree Celsius per pixel; can we increase thermal resolution?"

"Okay, half a degree per pixel," Chrissie said, and John continued to scrutinise the image.

"Keep going."

"Point four…, point three…, point two…," she counted down.

John leaned back from the screen and tilted his head to one side. "Is that my imagination, or is there a circular area that is slightly warmer than the background?"

Chrissie leaned back with him and tilted her head to match. "Oh yeah, I can see it now you've mentioned it. Blimey John, you've got good eyes."

He grinned at her and waggled his eyebrows. "All the better to see you with. Right, let's play it forward and see if it disappears."

The image played forward, until the circular area suddenly wasn't there. Chrissie played the frame backward then forward. "Now you see it…, now you don't."

"Okay, let's have the time stamp on that, it's time I did a bit of cheating," he said with a smile, and 'THAT' look in his eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Marla was led to a featureless room, and stood nervously while she waited for something to happen. She took the time to examine the metal orb that had suddenly taken control of her life. It was the size of a basketball, and reminded her of the 'Death Star' from Star Wars, being constructed of a number of grey, silver, and black panels. It had a row of small LED's around its middle, one of which was flashing erratically, as though it was connected to some computer network.

"Congratulations on your selection as a pets-assistant, we hope you will be very happy with your new owners," the orb said. "To facilitate this, I will be teaching you basic etiquette, and the verbal commands you will need to know to please your owners." This introduction was accompanied by a holographic, animated cartoon, presumably for species that did not have the ability to use language.

The metal orb displayed a holographic options menu in the air. "If at any time you require assistance, touch me and I will display a menu of available options for you to choose from. If you are ready, we will begin. Sit," the orb said, followed by an alien word, "bett," and an animated holographic cartoon of someone sitting down, which led Marla to believe that 'bett' was 'sit' in her owner's language.

Marla looked around, and could see no chair, stool, or bench in the featureless room. 'Where am I supposed to sit?' she thought to herself.

"Sit, bett," the orb repeated, and her collar gave her a small spark of static electricity as a gentle encouragement to obey the command. She immediately sat down on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees; she didn't want a repeat of her earlier, shocking experience.

"Good girl," the orb said encouragingly. "You have earned a reward; cup your hands below me to receive that reward." A cartoon hologram showed how she should assume the 'begging' position. 'What do you mean 'good girl?' she thought to herself, 'I'm thirty two and a grown woman, you condescending bitch.'

However, a reward sounded a lot better than a punishment, so she copied the cartoon, and a jelly bean sweet dropped into her hands. She looked at it suspiciously, holding it between her finger and thumb, before sniffing it. It smelt of strawberries and cream, so she popped it in her mouth and chewed. The flavour exploded in her mouth, and it was delicious.

"Stand," the orb commanded, again followed by the alien version, "ayet," and a cartoon, and so she stood up. "Good girl, you have earned a reward." She fancied another one of those sweets, so put her hands under the orb to receive another one.

"Lie down, banth ro," and she lay on the floor, getting another sweet. This wasn't so bad, apart from being naked, and being treated like an imbecile, she could survive this until she was rescued.

"Stand, ayet." Marla stood up again, wondering if this was some sort of bizarre, alien callisthenics. "Walk to heel, mehlie na tral," the orb said, and started to move around the room, keeping to the wall as it moved. "Try to keep me at your shoulder with the leash dangling loosely."

Marla walked around the room, with the orb at her shoulder. "Good girl, stop, ketch."

'Ah, I was right, ketch means stop', Marla thought with a smile.

"You have earned a reward."

There were more basic commands, such as kneel, where she had to sit on her heels, and a 'bad girl' posture, which the cartoon hologram showed that she had to assume a foetal position with her arms covering her head. Later that morning, she was surprised when a hole appeared in the wall and a plastic ball popped out, and she had to fetch, catch, and throw it, as well as learning to wait before picking it up.

She started to wonder about toilet facilities as her bladder started to call for her attention. She remembered seeing that green lizard lady peeing in a hole in her cage when she arrived yesterday, and wondered if that was it, just a hole.

She gently stroked the orb, and an options menu appeared in the air in front of her. There was a list of all the commands she had learnt so far, presumably so that she could go over any she wasn't sure of. Another option said 'medical emergency', which she hadn't thought about before, but it was reassuring to know that she could summon medical assistance if needed. At the bottom of the list was 'toilet'.

She pressed the 'toilet' option. "Walk to heel, mehlie na tral," and a hole appeared in the wall for her to walk through. A few steps down the corridor, another hole opened onto a small cubicle, with a hole in the floor. 'Okay', she thought, she'd been to India; she'd peed down a hole before.

"Toilet, krapp," the orb said. Marla nearly laughed out loud. 'You have got to be kiddin' me', she thought with a smile. She squatted over the hole and emptied her bladder, and then looked around for some toilet paper, only to find that there wasn't any. Before she could touch the orb and see if there was an option for it, a jet of warm water squirted her under parts, followed by a jet of warm air.

'You guys have thought of everything, haven't you?'

"Stand, ayet, walk to heel, mehlie na tral." She was led back to the training room for more of the same.

**Console Room, TARDIS.**

**Torchwood Special Operations Standby Room.**

John was preparing the TARDIS for a journey into the near past, using the timestamp from the satellite feed. On board were Julia, her field partner Jake Simmonds, and Gwen, just in case there was any unpleasantness.

He closed his eyes and reached out with his thoughts. ["Rose? Can you talk?"]

["It's not allowed here,"] she said with a mental smirk. ["Yeah, I can talk; I'm learnin' how to use a washin' machine."]

["Really?"]

["Yeah, talk about teachin' yer granny to suck eggs. Watcha want, have you got a lead?"]

It was John's turn to smirk. ["I thought they supplied those with the orbs."]

["Ha-ha, that's a leash."]

["I just wanted you to know that I think I've found the ship that kidnapped Martha…."]

["Marla,"] she corrected.

["Yeah, her as well. I've got to go back two days to follow the ship and intercept it after it's dropped her off, which means I'll be out of your time line for a while. Can you foresee any impending emergency where you will need me to jump in and rescue you?"]

["I don't think so; it seems to be a normal day of training on the use of domestic appliances, so go get 'em tiger, grrrr."]

[Okay Sweetheart, I'll check in with you as soon as I get back. I love you."]

[Love you too, bye."]

John sighed as he closed the connection, he didn't like leaving Rose without an escape route, but if they were going to find these low life's and put them out of business, then he had to. He opened his eyes and saw the three of them looking at him expectantly.

"I was just telling Rose that we'd be gone for a while, just in case she got worried when she couldn't contact me." He activated the materialise/dematerialise function, and gradually increased the space-time throttle which caused the time rotor to start pumping up and down, taking them into the Vortex.

The TARDIS materialised in a geostationary orbit, one hundred miles above the North American continent, and eighteen hours in the past. He immediately started to scan the Bright Angel Canyon with everything the TARDIS could throw at it, to locate the cloaked ship on the surface.

"So, what's the plan Doc?" Jake asked, as John studied the view screen.

"Well, we have to let Dr. Jones be kidnapped and dropped off at the kennels, because that's already happened, but after that, we can intercept them and find out who they're working for."

"And then we get Rose and Jack back?" Gwen asked, almost as a statement.

John longed to have his wife back, he longed for his children to have their mother back, however….

"Eventually, yes, but the people doing the kidnapping may not be the same people running the kennels. Don't forget, I've found at least three different types of ship, there may be more."

The three agents looked glum at the thought of their friends and colleagues being stuck in those kennels and having to endure that degrading treatment.

"Well, let's take these scumbags out of the picture and take it from there," Jake said. "Y'never know, we might get lucky."

"Ah, here we go then," John said, jumping into action. "We've got air turbulence coming out of the canyon and heading into the upper atmosphere. If I can just slave the TARDIS to the object creating the turbulence…." His brow furrowed in concentration, and then a big smile broke across his face as the time rotor started to pump up and down.

"Hah, gotcha! I don't need to see you to be able to follow you," he said as he flicked a lever as he spun around. "Damn I'm good…, cup of tea anyone?"

The TARDIS followed the invisible ship out of the solar system, before it engaged its warp engines, and dragged the TARDIS into hyperspace, a poor man's version of the Void, which only warped space, not time as well.

One hour and twenty two minutes, and a few cups of tea later, they dropped out of warp and approached a star system with a number of planets, mostly gas giants with ring systems around them.

"Let's get a fix on some of these stars then," John said, and started cross referencing known pulsars, quasars, and first magnitude stars. "Ooh, we're a long way from home, the other side of the galaxy, not visible from Earth. According to the TARDIS star charts, this is the Thood-Crow system."

"Is that a problem?" Julia asked, slightly nervous about being so far from home.

"Nah, we're still in our galaxy, that's like living in Aberdeen and visiting Portsmouth, you'd still be in the same country."

"Er, Aberdeen's in Scotland," Gwen pointed out.

"Is it? Oh..., no wonder Sarah Jane was so put out…. Ah, we're heading for that Mars sized moon orbiting the second gas giant from the star."

The cloaked ship went into a geostationary orbit around the moon, and John quickly scanned the surface, it was very 'Spock', and Rose would have been proud. He found the kennels training facility, which appeared to be the only building on the level one moon. There were no civilisations, no cities, no towns, just unspoilt wilderness.

"Ah-ha, teleport beam, that'll be Martha being dropped off. We'll let them fly through the system a bit, and then snare them with a gravity well." He looked at the image of the facility on the screen, and yearned for Rose who was SO close, and yet SO far.

"Who's Martha?" Jake asked.

"Long story, remind me to tell you when this is all over. Okay, time to go."

As they did in the solar system, they followed the ship as it moved away from the star and prepared to engage the warp engines.

"Power levels rising in the warp coils, time to pour some water on their fire." He pulled down a lever, and the pitch of the time rotor changed as the TARDIS surrounded the cloaked ship with a massive gravity field.

John chuckled to himself as he looked at the screen. "Their ship now weighs as much as a large moon; it'll take the energy of a moderate sized star to move that ship."

"How do you do that?" Julia asked, moving beside him to look at the screen.

"The TARDIS effectively has a black hole as a power source, she can do anything."

"What?!" Jake said in alarm. "Ya never told us that before, y'mean we're sat on top of a black hole?"

"No, of course not," John said with a smile. "Sitting inside a black hole would be more accurate."

His three friends visibly paled, and he grinned at them. "Safest place in this universe in here, the trouble starts when you open those doors and step outside," he said with a far away look in his eyes, remembering all the times he and Rose had walked or run into trouble through those doors. They still looked unsure though. "Look, would I bring my wife, my son, and my daughter in here if it wasn't safe?"

The three agents looked at each other with raised eyebrows and nodded, he'd got a point.

John walked around to the communications panel and flicked a switch. "Hello unidentified cloak vessel, I'm Doctor John Smith, Senior Special Operations Field Agent from the Torchwood Institute on the planet Earth. Remember that planet? Bluish green planet, clever little apes running around, a bit excitable…, and paranoid, tend to fly off the handle a bit, but on the whole, a nice lot," he rambled on, waggling his eyebrows at his smiling colleagues.

"Can I help you?" a puzzled voice asked from the speaker.

"Oh hello," John said cheerily. "I'm placing you under arrest on suspicion of kidnapping, trafficking of sentient life forms for financial gain, and violation of their statutory rights under article fifty two of the Shadow Proclamation. You have the right to remain silent, and anything you say will be recorded and may be used in evidence. It may harm your defence if you do not mention now, something that you later rely on at your trial."

"Bloody hell!" the now alarmed voice came back from the speaker.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Rose was sitting crossed legged on the floor of the mock up kitchen, waiting for the washing machine to finish its cycle. She couldn't get up and walk about, she'd get shocked, and she couldn't lie down either, she'd get shocked. She had been told to sit and wait, and so that is what she had to do.

It was at times like this, that she would call John in her mind and have a quick chat, but he was out of the timeline at the moment, and so couldn't be contacted. So she reflected on her current position and how she'd gotten here.

Torchwood had been monitoring the UFO websites, looking for reports of sightings and abductions. John would take her and Jack to the locations in the TARDIS, and drop them off to see if they could get abducted. After half a dozen false starts, they finally managed to get kidnapped in the early hours of the morning, at the ancient geoglyphs of the Nazca Desert in southern Peru. The conspiracy theorist would have loved that, and Rose had laughed about the irony of it.

She and Jack had been separated, and she was worried about him, until they ended up in a cell opposite each other. They quickly and painfully found out that they were not allowed to speak or act in a rebellious fashion, but found that they could mouth words to each other and have a conversation.

Her thoughts turned to her son and daughter, and she wondered if she was being selfish for still wanting to be a field agent, when her children were missing their mother. In the early days, in the other universe, when she had first met the Doctor, they had no ties, no responsibilities, and could go wherever they pleased, whenever they pleased, and for as long as they pleased.

But these days, they had responsibilities and commitments, where the danger was no longer just the bits in between, but was the possibility of their children growing up without one or both of their parents. Maybe it was time for her to grow up and face those responsibilities, and commitments.

She smiled at the thought of her two beautiful children, Juleshka would be having a nap right about now, and Eyulf would be coming out of the pre school nursery, bursting to tell her about what he'd learnt today.

She reached out with her mind. ["Hello Son."]

["Mummy!"] he said excitedly. ["Grandma, its Mummy."]

["Oh, grandma's there as well is she?"]

["Yeah, of course, I'm too young to drive."] This made her smile at the pure logic of a four year old.

["You're just coming back from school then?"] She surmised.

["Yeah, Grandma wants to know if you are alright. Are you being a secret agent again Mummy?"]

Rose thought of something that would make her mum smile. ["Yes, I'm being a secret agent son; tell Grandma that they are teaching me how to use a washing machine."]

There was a slight pause. ["Grandma says 'good luck with that', was that funny? 'cos she's laughing."]

Rose smiled to herself, she'd done it, she'd managed to make her mum laugh, and that would take some of the worry out of her. She continued to chat with her son about what he'd been up to that morning, and it raised her spirits as well as passing the time.

"Stand," her orb said, and she gracefully straightened her legs out of the cross legged position to stand up.

["Mummy's got to go back to work now Sweetheart, I'll talk to you later. Say bye to Grandma for me, I love you both."]

["Okay Mummy, we love you, bye."]

Rose wiped a tear from her cheek, as she followed the command to empty the washing machine.

At the end of her days training, she was led back to the dining hall to eat her evening meal, before the recreational time and then lights out. As soon as she entered the hall, she took the leash and tugged the orb behind her like a balloon, as she headed towards Jack. They grabbed each other in a reassuring hug, and kissed, which was witnessed by Marla as she entered the hall.

'I thought she was married to that dishy doctor', she thought to herself as she approached. They saw her coming, and didn't guiltily jump apart, or look embarrassed about being caught hugging and kissing, because Marla didn't realise that they were like brother and sister, they were best friends, and they just pulled her into a group hug before sitting down.

{"Good day at the office dear?"} Rose mouthed to him with a teasing smile.

Jack inspected his hands, turning them back and forth. {"I'm getting 'dishwashers' hands. You think they'd supply a moisturiser,"} he complained. {"I hope my owner is a bit more thoughtful."}

Marla had a silent giggle, this man was quite extraordinary, and not like anyone she had ever met before.

{"How did your first day go?"} Rose asked Marla.

{"Not too bad, only a couple of shocks. I struggled a bit when they took the English and the cartoons away, but pain is excellent at focussing the mind."}

Rose reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. {"Oh well done, I know this can't be easy for you."} Rose and Jack were used to being in weird, alien situations, and they had the added advantage that they could translate any alien language, so they heard all the commands in English.

They chatted and ate, without any urgency to finishing the food balls, and Marla found out why, when Rose stood up and held out her bent arm for her to link through. With Jack hooked on her other arm, they strolled through a door to a grassy park which was surrounded by a security fence.

{"We get recreation time before we have to go back to our cages,"} Rose mouthed to Marla. {"Just don't get to close to the fence, it gets a bit uncomfortable. In fact I don't know why they bothered with a fence, these collars render you unconscious before you even touch it."}

As if on cue, to prove her point, the alien warrior ran at speed and leapt into the air towards the fence. He made it two thirds of the way up the fence as his unconscious body bounced off the tort wire.

Marla's trauma medicine kicked in and she made a move to help the downed alien, except that she felt a tug on each elbow as Rose and Jack held her back.

{"I'd just hang on for a second while the orb drags him away from the fence,"} Jack mouthed. The orb took up the slack on the leash and unceremoniously started to drag the alien by his neck away from the fence. When the orb had stopped, they let go of her elbows and walked forward with her.

Jack was grinning as he mouthed at Rose. {"He nearly made it over that time."}

{"You mean he's done this before?"} Marla asked as she checked for a pulse and watched his chest for signs of breathing.

{"Yeah, every recreational period, we don't know if he has the memory of a goldfish, and forgets that this happens, or he's just plain dumb and thinks he can catch the collar napping one day,"} Jack mouthed. {"Y'know, I reckon if Tarzan here had an accomplice to give him a stirrup boost, he could clear that fence."}

{"And then what?"} Rose asked. {"I mean, just look, it's a wild jungle out there. At least in here we've got food, water, and shelter."}

{"He'd have his freedom, and for a hunter like him, that's all he'd need. Lie unconscious for a while, wake up, and he's gone. He'd just have to hope that the orb didn't try and lift him over the fence by his neck."}

{"Yeah, I suppose we are birds in a gilded cage, aren't we."} When they first arrived, they had assessed the security of the kennels, and got to within two metres of the fence when they felt the collars tingling. When they got to within a metre, they had to stop as it got too uncomfortable and their neck muscles started to spasm. They concluded that they would be unconscious before they even touched the fence, and then the warrior that Jack nicknamed Tarzan, had rushed the fence and proved it.

Marla tried to assess Tarzan's level of consciousness, as she'd given up on trying finding a pulse. She had realised that h wasn't human, and his pulses could be anywhere, hell, even his knees were on backwards, flexing like those of an ostrich. She admired the biomechanics of this unique animal; he was built to run really fast.

She crouched down and blew across his eyelids, and saw them twitch, she rubbed the front of his chest with her knuckle, and he tried to move away. He was alive, and he was slowly coming around. {"I think he's going to be alright, he's starting to recover."}

{"We know he's going to be alright,"} Jack mouthed. {"Tough as old boots this one and we're too valuable to be damaged or killed."}

Rose held her hand out for Marla, and she stood up and took it, walking away from the groggy alien with the backward knees. {"C'mon, let's enjoy the last little bit of our day while we can."}

There were people working out on climbing frame equipment, people kicking balls around, and the Catkind couple were at it again, up in a tree. Rose and Jack gave them a wave from below, whilst Marla averted her eyes. When she looked back to where she was going, a fit looking, and dark skinned humanoid was standing in front of her, blocking their way.

His erection made it quite obvious what he wanted from Marla, and Jack stood in front of her, putting his hands behind him on to her hips to keep her safe. Marla was surprised to find that his touch on her naked hips was quite arousing, what he did next was even more so.

Jack realised that he needed to show this Lothario that Marla was not available, and as he couldn't use words, he used actions. He turned to face Marla, gave her a wink and pulled her into a full on kiss. Rose had to suppress a laugh as she saw Marla's wide eyes looking at Jack, as they did a tonsil tango.

After she recovered from the initial surprise, she warmed to the task, and started to participate in the event. She was becoming light headed, and swayed a little as Jack separated their lips, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and glared at the 'would be' Casanova. The alien glared back and finally turned and walked away, looking for another female who might succumb to his charms.

{"Thank you, my knight in no armour,"} she mouthed.

{"Anytime,"} he said with a grin and a waggle of his eyebrows.

"Walk to heel," their orbs said, and started floating back towards the doors.

{"Playtimes over,"} Rose mouthed with a sad smile, and they were led back to their cages for the night.

* * *

"Bloody hell," the now alarmed voice said from the TARDIS console speaker. "There must be some mistake, we've got a license and permits and everything."

"A license...? A permit...? To kidnap?" John said in puzzled disbelief. He activated the video link, and saw a bearded humanoid on the screen.

"Kidnap...? Who said anything about kidnapping? We're licensed animal collectors; we capture non-sentient, non-self aware specimens and sell them to exo-zoological societies and private collectors. In fact, we've got a good contract at the moment with those kennels that we've just dropped off at," the man said.

"Show me your license," John commanded, and the details were uploaded to the TARDIS.

"This license is for the capture and selling of non-sentient wild animals, and what criteria do you use to assess sentience? Because that last drop off happened to be a very sentient, very intelligent, qualified physician," John said, his anger rising.

The man on the viewer looked visibly shocked. "No, you're having a laugh, we only collect from isolated wilderness areas were wild animals roam, and we avoid populated areas completely."

Slowly, a realisation dawned on John. "Tell me, on your home world, do people only live in towns and cities, does anyone venture into the wilderness places?"

"Are you mad? Of course not, why would they want to do that?"

"So you assume that any creature that is out in the wilderness is wild, and is fair game?"

"Well, yeah, it stands to reason doesn't it?"

"YOU IDIOT!" John shouted. "Do you realise that my wife and best friend were abducted earlier in the week to infiltrate those kennels? A young woman with yellow hair and a man with black hair, together in the wilderness?"

"No, sorry, that wasn't us, but there are some cowboys out there that are collecting without licenses or permits."

"Well isn't that just wizard," John said sarcastically. "Right you lot, your license and permits are suspended pending an investigation by the Shadow Proclamation. You will probably have your license revoked until you clean up your act, and you will probably be fined and have to pay compensation to your sentient victims."

The man on the screen paled and gulped. "The Shadow Proclamation? Now steady on, it was a genuine mistake, we don't have to involve them do we?"

"A GENUINE MISTAKE? It was genuine stupidity, driven by greed." John took a deep breath and calmed down. "If you help our investigation, I may be able to put a good word in for you."

"Yes, of course, anything we can do to help."

"Good, then you can start by telling me who you have the contract with to stock those kennels."

"That would be a company called 'Pets-Assist'," the man on the screen told them.

"Pets-Assist? What the he'll is that?" Julia asked.

"There motto is, 'A pet who adores, and helps with the chores'."

"What like a guide dog for the blind or a hearing dog for the deaf?" Gwen said.

"That's right, working animals," the man replied.

"Will you stop calling my wife an animal," John said. 'That's my privilege', he thought, and then it's usually reserved for the bedroom.

"Sorry Sir, of course."

"Okay, thank you, now, do you know who else has got a contract with this company? You mentioned some cowboys."

"I have heard on the grapevine that a crime syndicate is sub contracting to some bounty hunters."

"Oh great, that's all we need, a load of Boba Fett's flying about and kidnapping people," John said sarcastically.

"Boba who?" the man asked.

"Never mind, the Judoon are on their way to take you in. I will contact the Shadow Architect, and explain that you have been cooperating with the investigation, if you tell them everything you know about these bounty hunters."

"Thank you Sir, that's very kind of you Sir."

"You will still have to reapply for your license, after a period of retraining, and you will still probably be fined."

"Of course Sir, it's only right. You will tell the Judoon that it was a mistake, won't you Sir…, please."

John couldn't help but smile at the man on the screen; he was an idiot, a big, cowardly idiot. To avoid the risk of being torn limb from limb, he would capture anything out in the wild by 'zapping' it unconscious, rather than trying to assess whether it was intelligent or not. And to be fair, (if it could be fair to all those people in the 'Pets-Assist' kennels who shouldn't be there) on his home world, no one ventured out into the wilderness at night. They must have some seriously scary animals on his planet.

The proximity scanner on the console started beeping, indicating that a ship was approaching. John went and checked the scanner.

"Ah, it looks like your ride has arrived. Tell me one thing before you go; the crime syndicate, who is Mr. Big, how do I contact him?" John asked, looking intently at the man on the screen.

The man on the screen looked left and right, off camera. "I don't know anything, honest, you don't contact him…, he contacts you, and if I were you, I'd hope that he didn't want to talk to you, because that's not going to end well." The screen went dark as the nervous man cut the feed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Rose awoke again to the gentle 'bong' of the alarm, and the line of orbs entering the kennels. She had spent the night with her husband again in his head, and she had some exciting and encouraging news to tell her fellow inmates.

She picked up the end of the leash, and attached it to her collar, which locked itself into place, and allowed herself to be guided to the showers with Marla and Jack. It was then through to the dining hall and time for breakfast, where the three of them sat together in front of the food bowls.

{"I wonder what's for breakfast this morning?"} Jack mouthed with his boyish smile. {"Oh look, its dough balls."}

{"Jack, Marla, I've got some good news, John's found us, and has found the gang of collectors that captured you,"} she mouthed at Marla.

{"Brilliant!"} Jack silently exclaimed. They hadn't risked using their tattoo transponders, in case they set off alarms and gave the game away. The whole idea of this investigation was to find the people who were behind the operation and bring them to justice.

Marla looked at them in confusion. {"What, but how?"}

Rose frowned as she tried to think of a way of explaining her special link with her husband, and she settled for the stock answer. {"It's complicated."}

{"That's really encouraging news, because this place is so anonymous, anyone could be running it."}

{"Yeah, and if we can find out who our owners contacted to purchase us, we should be able to close the net."}

They ate their breakfasts as they silently discussed the possibility of being out of the kennels soon, and getting home to see their families. They timed the meal to perfection as the orbs issued the command to stand and then walk to heel. So here they were, another day of training and preparation to become the ideal working pet.

{"Good luck, see you later,"} they mouthed to each other as they were led away, except today; they wouldn't see one another later. Rose and Jack had been model students because they could understand the language, and had graduated early. They didn't realise it, but their new owners, who had chosen them four days earlier, were on their way back to collect them.

They realised that something was going on when they were led, with a group of a dozen or so, to the reception display area where they had initially been chosen. They looked at each other and smiled in anticipation as they entered the large, plush reception area.

They all stood in a line, on a slightly raised platform of polished wood. The reception was bright and airy, with wood panelling, comfy sofas, tables with magazines, and drinks dispensers, all in complete contrast to the drab, grey walled prison beyond. Through the glass doors, they could see the shuttle ship, which brings customers to and from the kennels, had landed on the pad outside.

Rose saw her family come through the doors, and the large video screen to her left came to life and a virtual receptionist welcomed them to the kennels. There was a man and woman in what looked like expensive designer clothes, and a cute little girl who was their daughter. They all had pale green scales, yellowish faces, two green antennae that arose from just above their foreheads, and dreadlocks.

"Well Tabeesha, here she is, have you thought of a name for her?" the mother said.

"Yes Mummy, I want to call her Lute."

"Oh what a lovely name Sweetheart, Lute, yes I like that," her mother said.

'Yeah, I quite like that', Rose thought to herself.

The orbs projected holograms of the virtual receptionist, and spoke to each of the owners that had come to collect their pets.

"Lute has been trained to respond to all of the commands that you requested, and is now ready to become a valued and loving member of your family. We at Pets-Assist hope that you have many happy years together. Please take as much time as you require greeting your pet, and then make your way back to the shuttle. Good bye, and good luck Lute."

The leash unlocked itself from Rose's collar, and the orb silently floated away with all the other orbs, through the hole in the wall that had suddenly appeared.

"Can I try her out Daddy?" Tabeesha asked excitedly.

"Of course Sweetheart, she yours now. Do you remember all of the commands?"

"Of course I do." She stepped up onto the platform and faced Rose. "Lute, kneel."

Rose knew she had about five seconds to respond before she got a shock of encouragement. She knelt down and sat on her heels with her back straight and hands on her thighs. Tabeesha had a diamond encrusted, pink leash that she attached to Rose's collar.

"Lute, shake hands," she said holding out her hand. Rose smiled at her and shook her hand. Tabeesha looked back at her parents, who were smiling at her, and then back to Rose. "Oh you clever girl, Lute, hug." She wrapped her arms around Rose's neck and gave her a hug, Rose responded, patting and rubbing her back as she hugged.

"Is she alright then?" the father asked.

"Oh Daddy, she's perfect, thank you, thank you," she said as she ran to him and gave him a hug as well.

"Happy hatchday Sweetheart, but remember, a pet is for life, not just for celebratory occasions. You'll have to feed her, keep her clean, and take her for walks."

"I will Daddy, I promise. I love her, I just love her to bits," she said, returning to Rose and holding a posh looking bag from a pet store.

'Hatchday?' Rose thought. 'Oh dear, I'm a birthday present'. She realised that this sweet, likeable child was going to be heartbroken when she found out that she wasn't her pet, but was a Torchwood field agent.

"I've bought you something to wear Lute," the child said excitedly. "I hope you like it, I chose it myself."

'Oh great, clothes at last', Rose thought, and then groaned as she saw Tabeesha take a pink leather harness out of the bag. It was more Ann Summers than the Armani she was hoping for, and when it was put on her, she looked like she was ready for a night out at a bondage club.

"Lute, stand, and walk to heel," Tebeesha said, holding the pink leash, and started to lead Rose towards the glass doors, and a kind of limited freedom.

"C'mon Stud," Rose heard to her left, and looked over to see Jack being led to the doors by a very attractive and sexy lizard lady, who had all sorts of rings and chains in her dreadlocks. Jack saw her looking, and gave her an enormous smile and a little wave with his fingers.

{"Bye, don't be too eager to come and fetch me will you?"}

Rose laughed silently in her head. {"Behave yourself Agent Harkness,"} she mouthed.

{"What, me?"}

"Mummy, Lute is looking at that one over there and moving her lips, do you think they were friends? Maybe they'd like to say goodbye," Tabeesh said.

This little girl was so thoughtful; it was going to break Rose's heart to tell her the truth.

"Excuse me miss," the mother called over to the sexy lizard lady. "I think our pets are friends, is it alright if they say goodbye?"

The sexy lizard lady stopped and smiled at them. "Yes, of course," she said, and led Jack towards Rose, where they embraced and kissed one last time.

{"Lute?"} Jack mouthed with raised eyebrows, that name suited her.

{"Stud?"} Rose mouthed with a smirk. Jack gave her one of his cheeky grins and nodded down towards his groin.

"Oh isn't that sweet Mummy, Lute has got a boyfriend."

They were allowed to walk hand in hand across the hard standing and into the shuttle, before being led to their travel cages at the back of the shuttle.

["John?"] Rose thought to her husband. ["We've been collected, and are takin' off now. I'll wait until we're clear of the system before I activate my transponder."]

["Oh that's great news Sweetheart; I can hardly wait to see you again."]

["Me too, I'll see you soon Love."]

**Torchwood Special Operations Field Agent Office.**

John had returned the small task force to Torchwood Tower, and was asking the Shadow Architect to go easy on the animal collectors. They may have been thick, but they weren't dishonest or malicious, and the Shadow Architect agreed that they should do a kind of community service, where they would find all the sentient victims, apologise, and return them to their families.

He was more interested in the bounty hunters, who were making a lot of money and causing a lot of misery. As soon as John reported his findings to the Shadow Proclamation, they put a covert surveillance on the moon containing the Pets-Assist kennels, and supplied a list of possible bounty hunters.

He was accessing the records of the galactic business index, which was the holy grail of information on all companies, their subsidiaries, and the real estate that they owned. He had also passed the list of possible suspects to the Research Office, who were cross referencing abductions with the known whereabouts of the bounty hunters at the time, in an attempt to find out which of them were involved.

Andy McNab popped his head around the door of the office. "Doc, we've got a call from the Shadow Proclamation for you in Despatch."

"Thanks Andy." He stood and walked with Andy through to the Despatch Office, where he could see the albino face, white hair, and red eyes of one of the Shadow Officers.

"Doctor Smith, one of our patrols has intercepted a slave trader entering the Thood-Crow system, with four aliens held in stasis."

"Blimey, that was quick; trade must be brisk around there. Did he manage to alert anyone before you nabbed him?"

"No, as you asked, we managed to jam her transmissions; whoever she is contracted to is unaware of her arrest."

"Her, it's a woman?" Andy asked.

"Yeah, why not? Anyone driven by greed, and a disregard for other people's feelings can do it." He looked back at the screen. "I'll need to talk to her."

"She is refusing to speak, and we are limited to what interrogation methods we can use," the Shadow Officer said.

"I don't need her to speak," John said menacingly, when he felt the warm glow of his wife in his head. Andy and the Shadow Officer watched as John closed his eyes and silently stood still for thirty seconds.

"Is everything alright Doc?" Andy asked as John opened his eyes again.

"It's better than alright, Rose and Jack have left the kennels..., I'm getting my wife back," he said with a smile, making his way to the Standby Room and the TARDIS.

He moved the TARDIS across the galaxy to the Thood-Crow system, and waited for Rose's signal. The tattoo on her hip was made of nano-circuits that formed a transmitter which could be activated by slapping it three times quickly, or by a coded signal from Torchwood.

When the TARDIS picked up her signal, John leapt excitedly into action, any time now he would be reunited with Rose, and he would give her a greeting she would never forget. He locked onto her signal, and realised that they were travelling through hyperspace, towards what must be the pet owner's home system.

["Jack's just left the shuttle,"] Rose thought to him, slightly concerned as the shuttle started to take off again.

["Okay Sweetheart, I think these people live on a number of worlds, are you okay?"]

["Yeah, it's a bit cramped in these travelling cages, but I've got a nice mattress and pillow, oh, and a blanket, they're gonna have to fight me to get the blanket off me."]

John laughed at her pleasure of something as so basic as a blanket, but then it made him wonder just how bad it had been for her, if a simple blanket could bring her so much pleasure.

He tried to keep her spirits up. ["Well, that's your Christmas present sorted this year then, a nice warm blanket."] It worked, Rose laughed with him. ["Not long now Love and it will all be over."]

The shuttle made a number drop offs at different planets in different neighbouring systems. These people must have colonised a number of worlds in their history.

Rose's signal remained on the third planet the shuttle visited, and he set the coordinates to land right next to her.

"Come on old girl, let's go get her back," he said to the time rotor, and could feel the eagerness coming from the console, she wanted Rose back, just as much as he did.

* * *

Rose felt the subtle tug of external gravity over the top of the artificial, internal gravity for the third time, and a few minutes later, the slight bump as the landing gear made contact with the ground. She saw the excited, smiling face of Tabeesha coming down the gangway towards her, and the catch on the cage being released.

"Come on Lute, we're here, time to go and see your new home."

Rose crawled out on all fours, with the blanket over her back. She stood up and wrapped it around her, only to have the young girl tug it off her.

"You don't need that smelly old thing, you've got a beautiful new bed, and bedding at home, come on..., come on, there's a good girl," she encouraged, as she picked up her leash and led Rose out of the shuttle.

They went through the spaceport control, declaring Rose as an item that they were returning with. The official checked the paperwork and indicated an archway for Rose to walk through, which apparently checked her for any diseases or parasites.

'Charming', she thought to herself.

She was taken outside and across a car park, to an expensive looking, floating SUV. The father opened the tailgate, and Tabeesha led Rose to the back of the vehicle and patted the cushions that had been placed there for her.

"In you get girl, it won't be long, and then you'll be in your new home."

Rose climbed in and sat with her arms wrapped around her knees. The family got into the front of the vehicle, and it silently floated out of the car park and along the road. Rose watched the alien landscape, vegetation and buildings glide by, as Tabeesha reached over the back seat and gently stroked her hair, thinking that she was helping to calm her anxious new pet.

Rose wasn't anxious, she was excited; John was coming to get her, and her ordeal would finally be over. Okay, it was an ordeal she had volunteered for, after all, she was the only field agent that had a unique method of communicating with a certain other 'foxy' field agent.

And no matter how good the Torchwood covert communications equipment was, there was always the chance that some advanced alien tech would detect it. Jack volunteering to go with her wasn't a surprise either, there was no way he was going to let her 'go it alone' on this one.

Eventually, they drove into a posh, residential area, and the SUV pulled up outside a futuristic, metal and glass house, before reversing onto the drive.

"We're here girl, you're home," Tabeesha said, and eagerly got out of the vehicle and ran around to open the tail gate. "Come on Lute, walk to heel."

Rose walked alongside the excited child, up a few steps to the glass front door, which opened automatically. It was obviously a 'des res', with opulent furnishings, artwork, and various knick knacks in display cabinets and on sideboards.

Tabeesha led her through to the living room, which had very comfortable looking furniture, which Rose wouldn't get to sit on as a pet. There again, she didn't want to, not at this precise moment, because at this precise moment, time and space were being bent out of shape by an incredible blue, wooden box.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Marla was now in a mock up of a bed-sitting room, that contained all rooms in one, so that she could learn all the skills and commands that her owners had paid for. Her orb had told her to clean the carpet, the cartoon showing a person using a gadget that looked like a vacuum cleaner.

As she swept the device over the carpet, she repeated the alien command for 'clean the carpet' in her head, in the hope of memorising it, because she really hated those static shocks to her neck. Who'd have thought that a hike down the Grand Canyon would end like this? At least she had two secret agents looking out for her, she didn't know if she would have coped without their support.

And it was Rose Smith of all people, who'd have thought it. She had seen her over the years, in the newspapers and gossip magazines, not paying much attention, thinking she was a spoilt little rich girl. And then she'd married that really cute scientist in a private, celebrity wedding in Somerset, again she didn't pay that much attention. But then they'd been interviewed by Parkinson, and they seemed really nice and down to earth, not at all like she was expecting.

"Ketch," the orb said, bringing her out of her musings, and she switched off the cleaner. "Good girl, you have earned a reward." She held her hands under the orb for a jelly bean, what the hell, she might as well get something out of all this. A real reward would be getting out of this hell hole and going home.

There were more domestic chores to be learned, and by the end of her day, she was feeling exhausted. An evening meal of dough balls and a walk in the park with Rose and Jack sounded brilliant right about now. That was another annoying and dispiriting thing about this prison, there were no clocks, so it could be morning, noon or night, and you would never know, and you had no idea how long you had been training or when it would finish.

Eventually though, her orb said 'ketch', and 'mehlie na tral', which meant it was leading her out of here, and back to the dining hall. She walked 'to heel' down the grey corridors, with the orb at her left shoulder and her leash hanging loose between them, until they came to the dining room, where she tugged the orb behind her as she headed for a table. She looked around for Rose and Jack, they normally all waved at each other when one of them spotted the other, but this evening, they weren't there.

This was a worrying development, from what Marla had seen of this place in the couple of days that she'd been here, she knew that everything ran like clockwork and to military precision. If Rose and Jack weren't here, it was because something had happened. Her mind started to run through various scenarios, based on the little she knew of this place.

Had they tried to escape and been injured like 'Tarzan' on the fence yesterday? She dismissed that one, she felt sure they wouldn't try any escape without her, although, they were trained agents, and maybe they thought it was too dangerous for a civilian. No, they would have told her, and they said 'see you later', which implied they intended to come back.

What if they'd been taken ill suddenly? Again, she dismissed that theory, she was a doctor, and she would have seen any signs of them being unwell at breakfast. The one thought that wouldn't go away, and she didn't want to contemplate, was that they had finished their training, and had been collected by their owners, which meant that she would be here all on her own.

It was at this point that Marla Jones in this universe, showed that she was an exact copy of Martha Jones in the other. She took stock of her situation and realised that if her main allies had gone, then it was time to win friends, influence people and make new allegiances.

She sat down at a table and started to eat, although suddenly, she was no longer very hungry. It was the only food she would get until breakfast, so she forced it down, looking around nervously, and feeling very vulnerable. She saw the Catkind couple shagging again, and remembered Rose saying that they were a nice couple, and at the moment, 'nice' sounded very inviting, knowing that there was an alien here who wasn't averse to having a go at doing to her, what Tom cat was doing to his partner.

She knew that the collars shocked you if you didn't follow instructions, or took actions that weren't deemed acceptable, but if the Catkind couple could go 'at it' all the time, then she figured that sexual intercourse was an acceptable action, consensual or otherwise. She quickly finished her food and water, and waited for the cats to finish eating (and shagging). She knew that loving couples that had a lot of sex, tended to be relaxed, easy going, and compassionate. She didn't know it at the time, but she had just described John and Rose Smith perfectly.

The Tom cat helped his partner stand up, after she'd lain face down on the table, and they walked towards the doors with their arms around each other, their tails intertwined. Marla checked to see if the big, Amazonian Lothario was anywhere between her and the Catkind couple, and set off after them.

The cats walked across the grass towards a tree, where yesterday she had seen them relaxing in the branches. They quickly climbed the trunk, using their claws and lay in each others arms. Marla walked over to the tree and looked up, there didn't seem to be any branches or handholds she could use to climb the tree. She looked around to see if there was anything she could use to help her up, and her heart froze. The dark skinned alien had finished eating and was heading her way.

She looked back up at the cats, but they were too preoccupied with each other to see her predicament. When she looked back at the alien, she could see by his face that he had seen her and was coming to claim what he had been refused the day before. She couldn't call out, the collar would freeze her vocal chords with an electric shock the instant it detected a sound. She looked over her shoulder, to see him getting closer, he was grinning at her now, seeing the panic in her eyes.

If she ran, where or who would she run to, and could she outrun him? No, she reckoned her best chance of rescue was up there with the Catkind couple, but how to attract their attention. She had an idea from when her brother Leon had taken her to see a football match, and the crowd had clapped in a rhythm before chanting the team name.

CLAP - CLAP - CLA-CLA-CLAP - CLA-CLA-CLA- CLAP - CLAP-CLAP.

She looked up and repeated the pattern until the couple in the tree looked down at her. She thought that there was one gesture that everyone here knew, and held her hands together in the begging gesture that they used to get a reward. The cats looked at each other to see if the other had any idea what was going on, and then back at Marla, who had now flattened her back against the tree and was pointing at the approaching alien with a trembling hand.

She looked back up at them again and repeated the begging gesture. The tomcat understood what she meant and turned his back on her. 'NO!' Marla thought, 'Rose said you were nice, don't let this happen, please'. The dark skinned alien was taking his time now, he knew he could take her anytime he wished, and he was going to savour his prize.

As Marla contemplated what would happen next, she felt something tickle her ear, and looked to the side to see a cats tail dangling by her face. She looked up to see the tomcat squatting down so that his tail would hang down from the branch. The she-cat was gesturing for her to grab the tail and come on up. She grabbed the tail and immediately started to rise into the tree as the tomcat climbed higher in the tree, dragging her up behind him.

She felt warm, furry hands grab her and pull her into a hug, and she held on, crying silent tears. The she-cat rubbed and patted her back, and the tomcat climbed back down and joined in the hug. He looked over the branch at the alien below and bared his vicious looking teeth at him. The disgusted alien spat at him and stormed off. They continued to hug, while the she-cat rocked and patted her until she had finished sobbing.

Marla mouthed 'thank you', but that didn't seem enough, and even if she could speak, she doubted they would be able to understand her. She took both of the she-cats hands and held them together, kissing her knuckles, in a hope that she would understand how grateful she was. She did the same with the tomcat, and he smiled at her, nodding a 'you're welcome'.

The she-cat then looked coy and embarrassed as she looked at her partner and used her forefinger to point between them and then stroked his private parts. Ah, Marla understood that message loud and clear. She looked around the branches, and saw one that was a discreet distance away. She pointed to herself and then along the branch. The she-cat smiled in gratitude and gently stroked Marla's cheek.

While her two new friends shagged each other (again), she touched her orb and went over the days lessons to distract herself. Having studied for a medical degree, she knew that you could never have too much revision. Just before her orb announced that it was time to walk to heel, she felt a gentle furry hand on her shoulder. The she-cat climbed around the branch to face her, took both her hands and kissed Marla's knuckles. Marla smiled at her, and they hugged until it was time to go in for the night.

Marla felt a little self conscious about being naked, and wrapping her arms around the tomcat's neck and her legs around his waist, but the couple were quite relaxed about it, and he climbed down the tree with Marla on his back. On the ground, they stood either side of Marla, and wrapped their arms around her shoulders. Being a high profile couple that openly shagged in public had its advantages, because when they waved at other aliens and pointed at Marla between them, they got waves and nods of understanding. Marla was their friend and needed protecting.

They were led down the corridors into the kennels, and then had to go their separate ways. Marla stepped into her cage, and the hole shrank until it was six inches across, after which, the leash unlocked itself, and the orb floated silently away in a line with all the others, passing through the hole in the wall, which shrank until the wall became solid once more.

The lights dimmed, and Marla moved over to the hole in the floor, where she emptied her bowel and her bladder, followed by the jet of warm water and the blast of warm air. That done, she went over to the mattress and lay down with her hands behind her head, staring up at the ceiling and thinking. Where were Rose and Jack now? Had they been released and gone back home, to sleep in their own beds, in their own homes?

Had they been able to contact the authorities, or were they still slaves, unable to escape their servitude? That was unthinkable, because if that were the case, then there was no hope for her. 'It's a bit complicated, but don't worry, we'll get you out of here' Rose had told her, and she seemed so confident. And somehow she'd heard from her husband, John. 'John's found us, and has found the gang of collectors that captured you', how was she able to talk to him without getting electrocuted.

No, they had to have escaped, they were trained agents. 'Once Jack and me have been collected by our owners, we can find out who sold us, who kidnapped us, and then bust them'. Maybe they had to arrest the bad guys before setting everyone free; that was it, if they raided this place first, the bad guys would just disappear, never to be heard of again. 'Good luck, see you later' Rose and Jack had mouthed to her and to each other. She held on to that thought, 'see you later', it would just be a bit later than she thought.

Something occurred to her as she laid there, Rose's and Jack's cages were still empty. Over the last two days, as people left, they were replaced by new arrivals on these floating cots. There hadn't been any today, and that got her wondering, maybe Rose's husband HAD found this place like she'd said, and was rescuing the abductees before they got here. That thought definitely got her excited, if she woke up in the morning, and the cages were still empty, then surely that would prove it.

She didn't have to wait until morning to get her proof, and for things to get complicated.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The lizard family's dreadlocks raised in alarm, as they heard the sound of the TARDIS engine. Tabeesha ran to her mother, dragging Rose with her on the end of the leash.

"Mummy, what is it? I'm scared."

"I don't know Sweetheart. Broz, call the police," the mother said.

Broz, the father, was standing in front of them protecting them from the perceived threat, and reached for the phone on the low table to his right. He was about to pick it up, but a pink hand gently rested on his wrist. He looked up to see Rose shaking her head in an 'I wouldn't do that if I were you', kind of way.

"Lute, what's the meaning of this, what do you think you are doing?" he asked her, both annoyed and now nervous.

Rose nodded her head to the side, and he turned to look in that direction, just in time to see the door of the TARDIS open and a tall man with impossibly sticky up hair, step out into his living room and stride purposefully towards him.

He was wearing a black uniform, and carried a white, towelling bathrobe. Broz stepped back nervously, not knowing the intention of this intruder, but the intruder ignored him; his gaze was fixed on their pet, Lute.

His left arm went around her waist, his right arm around her shoulders, and he tipped her backwards and proceeded to try and perform a tonsillectomy with his tongue.

Tabeesha put her hands to her mouth in concern. "Mummy, what's he doing to Lute, is he going to hurt her?"

"Olgax, fetch a bucket of water," Broz said. "I think we're going to have to separate them."

["Y'know, I think he might be right,"] John thought at her with a chuckle. ["Because there's no way I'm letting go of you anytime soon."] He straightened her up on her feet, and she gasped for breath.

["D'ya think it's his subtle way of tellin' us to get a room,"] she grinned, with her tongue poking between her teeth. ["But seriously John, as great as that 'hello' was, you have to focus on the job in hand,"] she told him.

["I'd rather focus on what I've got in this hand,"] he thought, as he gave her bum a cheeky squeeze. ["Nice harness by the way, I hope you're going to keep that for special occasions."]

She playfully slapped his shoulder. ["Agent Smith, behave. You'll have to do the introductions, because I can't speak."]

"Oh, yeah, that's right." He turned to face the lizard family. "I'm Doctor John Smith, Special Operations Field Agent for the Torchwood Institute on planet Earth, and this is Rose."

He had his arm around her waist, and Rose was turned so that her naked front was pressed against him. He looked down and saw the pink leash. "Allow me," he said, and unclipped it from her collar. "She's mine," he said nodding down at Rose. "And this is yours." He held the leash out for Broz to take.

In all the excitement of seeing Rose again, he'd forgotten that he'd brought out her bathrobe. He wrapped it around her shoulders. "And this is for you." She kissed him again, as she put her arms in the sleeves and tied the belt.

Her name's Lute and she's mine," Tabeesha protested, getting tearful.

"I'm sorry Sweetheart, her name is Rose, and she's my wife," John said as sympathetically as he could.

"Preposterous!" Broz exclaimed. "No one in their right mind would marry a pet."

John advanced on him, and gave him a look that could melt steel. "True, but she's not a pet, she's a Special Operations Field Agent too." (And his mother-in-law would argue that he'd never been in his right mind).

"Then why is she behaving like a pet?" Olgax asked, thinking she'd won the argument.

"Because, if she tries to talk, or tries to act on her own volition, the collar that she's been forced to wear electrocutes her until she either behaves, or falls unconscious. Talking of which, let's see if we can disable that."

John took out his sonic screwdriver and started to adjust the setting. It made a warbling whistle as he tried to deactivate the collar.

["Argh, John, no, stop, STOP, it's hurtin',"] she cried in his mind.

He stopped, and pulled her into a hug. "Sorry Love, I was afraid of that, there's an anti tamper algorithm built into the operating system of the collar."

Rose had tears in her eyes, just as she thought her ordeal was over, it turned out she was stuck in the collar. The lizard family had watched in horror, as they saw Rose cringe in pain.

Tabeesha was crying. "Mummy, it's horrible, they've been torturing Lute to make her behave. I can't bear to think that someone has been deliberately hurting her."

Rose went over to her and knelt down to be at eye level with her, she wiped a tear off her cheek with her thumb, and Tasheeba grabbed her around the neck in a hug.

"Rose is talking to me through her mind, she says not to worry; it wasn't that bad for her because she was clever and able to avoid getting disciplined too often. She likes you a lot Tabeesha, and if she were a pet, she would want you as her owner," John said, looking down at Rose, with so much pride.

["That was one of the most selfless, compassionate things I have ever heard. I love you Rose."

["I know."]

He gently put his hand on her shoulder, and she released Tabeesha from the hug and stood up. "Why don't you go and put some clothes on, while I start questioning our star witnesses? I've laid your uniform out on the bed."

["Thank you,"] she thought, and she kissed him on the cheek, before heading for the TARDIS door.

Broz and Olgax were looking perplex. What was he on about, 'laid out on the bed?' What bed? That box was hardly big enough for a chair, let alone a bed.

["Oh, and there's a zip up pouch on the bed as well, could you bring that out with you as well,"] John asked as she went through the door.

["Yeah, sure, see you in a minute."]

John turned to Broz and Olgax. "How did you hear of 'Pets-Assist'?"

"Well, a few of the girls at the beauty salon had got them, and they were saying how good they were with the children, and how they helped out around the house," Olgax said.

"And some of my business clients mentioned them, and Tabeesha's hatchday was coming up," Broz added.

"We found the advert in 'House and Home Online', Olgax said.

"House and Home?" John said in disbelief.

"Yes, it's an online magazine that I subscribe to."

"I know what it is, I'm just amazed that two planets, on opposite sides of the galaxy, come up with the same publication…, brilliant."

Olgax had reached a thin plastic sheet off the coffee table and touched the centre, where it came to life as a tablet PC. She touched the 'Magazines' icon, and a list of publications that they subscribed to were shown. Fashion, cooking, motoring, travel, and there it was, 'House and Home'.

She found the advert and handed the plastic screen to John, as Rose came out of the TARDIS, dressed in her black uniform, and adjusting the utility belt.

["Oh God, that feels good. I never thought military twill would feel so good."]

["You always look good in it,"] John told her.

The lizard family were staring at her in astonishment, it was true then, she wasn't a pet, she was an intelligent, sentient person.

["What's in the pouch?"] she asked.

["Ah, let me show you,"] he said with a smile as he took it off her and unzipped it. He took out four, small round pads and stood in front of her.

"Lift your chin a little." Rose lifted her chin and he stuck two pads either side of her adam's apple. He then held her chin with his thumb and forefinger and lowered her chin, stealing a kiss as he did so. He then stuck the other two electrodes on her cheeks.

["What are you up to?"] she asked suspiciously.

He took a small device out of the pouch, that looked like and MP3 player, clipped it onto her breast pocket, and switched it on.

"Right, mouth the words that you want to say," he instructed.

"I've - been - doing - that - for - the - last - four - days," the MP3 player said. "Hah! - That - is - brilliant, - hang - on - though, - I - sound - like - Stephen - Hawking."

The lizards looked on with their mouths wide open, oh my God, she could talk.

"Oh, hang on, I can make some adjustments." He fiddled with the settings. "Okay, try again."

"Let's - try - this - then. - Ooh, - that - sounds - like - Cher - singing - 'Believe'. - Do you belie-e-ve in life after love?" She sang and laughed.

"Oh Rose, you're going to have to stop laughing, because that is SO sexy, it's doing things to me."

"Shut - up, - now - how - far - have - you - got - with - the - investigation?"

"Olgax was just showing me the advert for Pets-Assist, here in House and Home."

"House - and - Home, - you're - kiddin' - me - right?" She smiled at Olgax, and saw an uncertain, guilty look on her face. "Are - you - alright?"

"No…, not really…, it;s just that you can talk, and you're intelligent…, and everything…"

Rose sat by her on the sofa and held her hand. "And - the - people - runnin' - these - kennels - are - to - blame, - not - you, - so - how's - about - you - helpin' - us - catch - the - bad - guys?"

Olgax smiled. "Yes, alright…, are all field agents like you..., as kind and considerate, I mean?"

Rose looked up at John. "Yeah, - most - of - us - are."

"We called the number in the advert, and a representative came to see us," Broz said.

"Right, how's about you call him again, tell him your neighbour has seen Lute, and would like one themselves." John looked over at Rose and waggled his eyebrows. "I love the name Lute by the way."

"So - do - I," Rose said, smiling at Tabeesha.

"Right, let's do this then," Broz said and picked up the phone. He called the salesperson, told him the story, and arranged for him to call around in the next half hour.

"And what about payment?" John asked.

"Well, when we chose Lute…, er, Rose…, your wife, we could choose which commands we wanted her to learn. You are charged for each extra command." Broz looked at Rose sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Don't - worry - about - it, - honestly, - It - was - just - part - of - my - job. - How - was - the - payment - made?"

"Card payment at the reception area when we'd selected all the commands that we wanted."

"Ah, that could be the lead we've been looking for, electronic transfer of funds leaves a trail that we can follow, John said. "Wait here, I'm just going to get my Torchwood tablet." He went into the TARDIS, and came back moments later with his tablet PC.

"Broz, if you log on to your account and find the transaction, I can interrogate the server."

Broz took the tablet off John and started to log on to his account, whilst John took out his phone and speed dialled Torchwood Despatch.

"Andre, good to hear you, can you put me through to Finance?" He smiled at everyone while he waited for the call to be transferred. "Hi, it's Doctor Smith here, very shortly, my tablet is going to be streaming some account data to the server, I need someone to do an audit trail and find out where the money ended up…, okay, that's great, thanks."

Broz handed back the tablet, with the purchase of Rose highlighted. "Really, that much?" He waggled his eyebrows at Rose. "I'm going to have to double your housekeeping allowance."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Why – not – treble – it – while – you're – at – it? – I – mean, - three – multiplied – by – zero – is – still – zero."

"Broz, I presume you want a refund," John said with a grin.

"Well, yes, of course, but I should imagine that is going to take some time if there's an ongoing investigation, seizure of assests and all that sort of thing."

"There you go, all done," John announced. "That should put the cat amongst the pigeons, who ever is behind this is going to want to know where that money has gone."

"John, - won't - there - be - reprisals - against - the - people - in - the - kennels?" Rose asked.

"Quite possibly, which is why we're going back there next, we'll get them to play their hand."

"The man from Pets-Assist is here," Olgax announced.

"Oh good, show him in," John said with a satisfied smile.

Olgax went to the door, and escorted the man into the living room, who was surprised to see two aliens in their house. "Are these your neighbours?" he asked, slightly apprehensive.

"Nah, not really, we just said that to get you here so we could have a little chat," John said. "You see my wife here, Rose." He indicated with a sweep of his arm, and Rose gave a little finger wave. "She was kidnapped by some 'slavers' and taken to a prison called 'Pets-Assist', where she was forced to endure four days of degrading and humiliating treatment, and was tortured until she cooperated so that she could be sold to this unsuspecting family.

The man gulped. "Your wife?! But we only take bipedal, non sentients from the wild, I…, I…,"

"You - can - take - it - from - me, - I - am - fully - sentient - and - aware, - and - not - only - am - I - wild, - I - am - LIVID!" Rose told him.

""So, as you can imagine, we are all just a little annoyed at you right now, so I'm inviting you all to come with us, back to Torchwood, where we can sort it all out."

"But I have other clients..." the salesman started to say.

"Not any more you haven't, didn't I mention it, oh me and my memory, after nine hundred years, it gets a bit cluttered in here."

"M..., mention what?" the salesman asked.

John smiled at him. "I'm putting you out of business."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Torchwood Special Operations Standby Room.**

**Torchwood One.**

The members of Blue Watch, who weren't out on a 'shout', stood and watched as the TARDIS slowly became solid on the landing pad. After a few moments, the door opened and Rose stepped out to a round of applause, and a group hug

"Rose, how was it? John said you were alright, but he always says that," Julia said.

"It - was - a - bit - demeaning, - but - it - wasn't - to - bad - really."

"Oh my God, what's happened to your voice?" Gwen asked in concern.

"It's an obedience collar," John said as he followed the lizard people out of the TARDIS. "If she tries to speak, she gets an electric shock, so I've rigged up a little voice emulator until I can get it off her."

"Mind - you, - I - could - do - a - mean - Cher - karaoke - at - the - moment," she said with a cheeky smile.

"Andy, this is Broz, his wife Olgax, and their daughter Tabeesha, they have been victims of this pet scam. I've got their cash back, and they'd like to make statements."

"Tabeesha, - these - are - my - friends, - Julia, - and - Gwen. - They - will - look - after - you - while - your - parents - do - some - grown - up - stuff," Rose said as she stooped down to reassure her.

"What a lovely name," Gwen said. "Would you like to come to the restaurant and try some ice cream?"

She held her mother's hand for reassurance, her antennae drooping with worry. "Don't worry Sweetheart, these are Lute's friends, and you know she would only have nice friends, wouldn't she?"

Tabeesha nodded and looked to Rose for confirmation, who smiled and nodded.

"Lute?" Julia and Gwen said together.

"I'll - let - Tabeesha - explain - that - one," Rose said with a smile, and a wink at the alien girl.

"This character on the other hand, is in custody either as an accomplice or a witness." John said to Andy, putting his hand on the salesman's shoulder. "I'd be grateful if you could find out which."

"Where's Jack?" Gwen asked, wondering where her field partner had got to.

"He'll be with his new owner, keeping his end up and pumping her for information probably," John said with a grin. Rose's speech emulator started laughing. ["Hey, I told you not to do that, now I'm all flustered,"] he thought to her.

["Well, I'll have to try an' do somethin' about that then, won't I?"] She purred. John grabbed her hand and headed for the TARDIS.

"Hey, Doc, Wife, where you heading?" Andy asked.

"To get my wife's voice back and to find Jack."

They ran up the ramp to the console, and together they put the TARDIS into the Vortex.

"Next stop, third moon of Thood-Crow II," John said.

["Wrong…, next stop, the bedroom,"] Rose thought, grabbing his hand and dragging him out of the console room.

In the bedroom, she hurriedly pulled down the zip on his uniform and pulled it off his shoulders and down to his waist. He did the same to Rose, and snapped her bra clip in one action of his thumb and finger.

["Mmmm, someone's been practicin',"] she thought, as she pulled the all in one uniform down, along with his shorts. He kicked his boots off, as he pulled her uniform and knickers down as well. Within seconds, they were on the bed and on each other, John lying on his back, and Rose straddling him, caressing his body with her lips and tongue.

John poked his index finger through the ring on her collar and gently pulled her down towards him, whispering in her ear. "I know this is going to be difficult for you."

["How so?"]

"Well, unless you want an electric shock, you've got to keep quiet, no groaning, no telling me I'm fantastic," he said with a cheeky grin.

["Ooh, you're so full of yourself, aren't ya. If anyone is goin' to be groanin' and tellin' someone they're fantastic it's gonna be you."] As if to prove the point, she wiggled herself onto his erection and squeezed with her pelvic floor muscles.

"Mngnf," he mumbled as she started to grind her hips.

["Oh come on,"] she purred in his head. ["You can do better than that."] She ran her fingers through his hair, as she nibbled his ear, whilst contracting and relaxing her pelvic floor in rhythm with him. She knew where all his buttons were, and how to press them, whilst pushing a few of her own at the same time.

Before long, she had him groaning, moaning, and gasping in ecstasy, and she had to bite her bottom lip to stop herself from yelling out. Despite all her sterling efforts, a small squeak escaped, and she received a little 'tickle' of static from the collar, which surprised her by adding to her orgasm and sending a shiver down her spine.

"That was fantastic," he breathed in her ear, as she lay on top of him, panting.

["That was, or I was?"]

"Okay, that was awesome because you were fantastic."

"Told - you!" Cher's disembodied auto-tuned voice said from under her uniform. They just lay there for a while, basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking, instinctively stroking and caressing each other.

["So what's the plan?"] She asked in his head.

["Hah! You know me, haven't got one. If we go in, in the middle of the night, I can get a look at that collar applicator and try and work out how to reverse it. Then we find the central control, shut it down, and free all the inmates, how does that sound?"]

["Well, that sounds somethin' like a plan at least. C'mon, let's grab a shower and get movin'."] She climbed off him and grabbed his hand to pull him up off the bed and into the en suite shower.

"I hope that collar is waterproof."

["Of course, we used to have a communal shower every mornin'."]

"What, you and Jack, showering together?"

["Yeah, don't worry though, it was nothin' like this."] She gently reached down and gave her favourite part of him a squeeze, which dutifully stood to attention.

"I should hope not," he managed to squeak, before she set about him again.

**New Arrivals Induction Room.**

**Pets-Assist Kennels Training Facility.**

**Third moon of Thood-Crow II.**

"Is this the right room?" John asked as he stepped out of the TARDIS, into a dim, grey walled room.

Rose came out behind him, shrugging a backpack onto her shoulders, and looking around. ["Yeah this is it, those are the remote arms I told you about, and there was a kind of force field holding me still,"] she thought, pointing to the ceiling.

John took out his sonic screwdriver and started to scan the equipment. "Hmmm, I can't tell much while it's dormant; we need a subject in there."

["Well, don't look at me, I've already got one of their fashion accessories, an' I'm not lookin' to get another one just yet."]

"Nah, I wasn't thinking of you, I've got an old friend of ours in the TARDIS," he said mysteriously, and ducked back through the door.

'What's he on about', Rose thought, and walked over to the TARDIS door and opened it. She nearly got an electric shock, to go with the one she received when she saw what was standing in the doorway.

["Oh my God John, is that an Auton?"]

"Nah, they were in the old universe, this is just a mannequin, but he does bring back memories, doesn't he?"

["He sure does, if it hadn't been for his friends in the other universe, we'd never have met,"] she thought with a wistful smile and far away look in her eyes.

"Now, let's see if I can get him in place under the equipment, I've got a feeling that it might trigger with body heat, so I don't want to get stuck in there with it."

He carefully 'walked' the mannequin backwards, holding it by the hands. When he got it roughly underneath the mechanical arms, he stepped back, took out his sonic screwdriver, and adjusted the setting to emit an infrared beam at the mannequin to heat it up.

"Could you stand as close as you can to the mannequin Love, without getting in the stasis field? It should pick up your physiology and identify you as human."

Having already been through the process, and got the collar (not the T-shirt), she was understandably reluctant to go through it again. ["O-kay…, not too close though."]

"That should be close enough," he told her, as he 'sonicked' the mannequin.

After about a minute, they heard a soft, friendly voice. ""Do you speak English...? Parlez-vous français...? ¿Habla usted español…? Sprechen Sie Deutsch...?"

["Clever clogs,"] she thought, playfully sticking her tongue out at him.

"English," he said with a smile.

"Language identified, Sol Three, English. No further speech is required from you. Please cooperate with all instructions, you will not be harmed, but failure to comply will result in punishment."

"Ooh, a dominatrix…, you should meet my friend Jack…, oh you already have."

"No further speech is required from you. Please stand still with your hands by your sides."

Three arms descended and started to rotate, spraying the web around the mannequin, whilst John scanned the process with his sonic.

"Hmmm, that's interesting," he said.

["What, what have you found?"]

"Well, the building itself is a modular design, a kit effectively."

["Like the Sanctuary Base on Krop Tor?"]

"Exactly, anyone could put this together and own it, but when they start running the place, they put their mark on it, so to speak, the technology, the software protocols, it's like a fingerprint."

["And have you found one?"]

"I've got a partial, the arrogance of the automation, the demeaning treatment of life forms, the complete absence of any emotional regard for the people here…, I have my suspicions."

"No further speech is required from you. You are now safely immobilised for the placement of the obedience collar."

"Ah, this is the bit I need to see," John said and started scanning again.

"No further speech is required from you."

The three arms, holding the collar, lowered over the head, and rested on its shoulders. The arms dropped the ring and retracted back to the ceiling, as the ring contracted around its neck.

"Obedience collar in position; obedience collar is now active. Any failure to comply will now be punished."

"Do your worst Sweetheart, see where it gets you," John said with a grin, and then noticed a wall panel behind the mannequin start to move. He realised it was one of the floating mattresses Rose had told him about, that took the victims to their cages. It tilted the mannequin backwards and floated towards the wall, where a hole started to open up. John scanned the wall to find out how the hole was opened, and then hopped up on the mattress, holding his hand out for Rose to join him.

"Goin' my way Doll?" He asked in his Elvis voice.

{"Is - there - any - other - way - to - go, - daddy-o? - Straight - from - the - fridge, - man,"} her voice emulator said as she remembered a motor scooter in another universe, in what now seemed another life. She hopped up onto the mattress beside him, and they travelled sideways, arms around each other, down the grey, featureless corridor towards the kennels.

Another hole opened, and they floated into the kennels, where they went past cage after cage in the dim twilight. Rose looked at the cages in front of her and turned to look over her shoulder.

["John, half of these cages are empty, when I left they were occupied."]

["That would be because no new abductees are coming in, the Shadow Proclamation have got a covert watch on the place. All traffic, both in and out, is being intercepted, and the victims rescued."]

Rose leaned towards him and kissed his cheek in recognition of his brilliance. ["Nice one!"]

The mattress stopped and a hole opened in a cage. Rose hopped off and tugged John's hand to get him off as well, before it reversed into the cage. Rose looked at the cage next door, and realised where she was.

["John, this was my cage, which means that this one here...,"] she said as she walked to the neighbouring cage. ["...Is Marla's."]

["What, you mean Martha-Marla?"] He asked with a smile.

["Yeah, that's her."]

["Oh brilliant!"] He took out his sonic and adjusted the setting before pointing it at the cage and activating it. They could see the occupant stirring in the darkness, as the warbling whistle disturbed her. A hole opened up in the front of the cage, and Rose rushed in to gently shake Marla's shoulder.

Marla's eyes flickered open, first in confusion, then recognition, and then wide in surprise. {"ROSE!"} She mouthed her mouth so wide that Rose swore she could hear her. {"You made it."} Tears filled her eyes and she grabbed Rose into a tight hug. She looked over Rose's shoulder, and saw a man with impossibly sticky up hair, and an enormous grin on his face.

John stepped into the cage, tapped Rose's shoulder to get her to release the hug, and then gave Marla a big hug himself, completely unaware or concerned that she was stark naked.

"Martha…, you don't mind if I call you Martha do you? Nah, course you don't, it'll just be simpler if I can call you Martha, it can be like a nickname, or a pet name…, no wait, not a pet name, that's a bit insensitive in here, isn't it? Oh it's so brilliant to see you," he rambled on.

It was Rose's turn to tap him on the shoulder, and she rolled her eyes in amusement. "Marla, - this - is - my - husband - John."

{"Hello,"} Marla mouthed, shaking his hand.

John giggled excitedly. "Hello…, oh, the voice, hang on." He rummaged in a pocket and took out four small round pads. "Just lift your chin for a second."

Marla looked to Rose, a bit uncertain at what this manic, mad scientist was going to do. Rose smiled at her and nodded reassuringly. She lifted her chin and John stuck a pad either side of her throat, and then one on each cheek. He then took a speech emulator out of his pocket, switched it on, and it was only then, when he came to clip the emulator on to her clothing, that he noticed that she was naked.

"Oh, you've got no clothes on," he said, getting an eyeful of her fit body and blushing.

Rose's emulator gave a sexy laugh, and she took the emulator off him and clipped it to the ring on her collar. "There, - that - will - do - until - we - can - get - you - some - clothes; - talking - of - which..." She shrugged the backpack off her shoulders.

"You - can - speak," Marla said, and then realised the emulator had spoken the words she mouthed.

"Yeah, - just - one - of - John's - little - gadgets - until - he - can - get - the - collars - off." Rose unzipped her backpack and started rummaging inside.

Marla smiled at him. "Thank - you, - its - been - murder - not - being - able - to - speak."

John just stood there, grinning at her like an idiot, and trying to avoid looking at her very attractive breasts. There was another sexy laugh from Rose's emulator, as she pulled a white, towelling bathrobe out of the backpack and handed it to Marla. "He'd - be - dead - of - electrocution - by - now - if - he - had - to - wear - one, - what - with - his - runaway - gob."

Marla pulled on the bathrobe, and there were now two lots of sexy laughter coming out of those gadgets, and it was driving John to distraction. ["What have I told you about laughing through that gadget?"]

["Don't worry, I'll let you discipline me later,"] she purred in his head. When he looked at her, she had a twinkle in her eye, and that tongue between her teeth smile.

John cleared his throat. "Er, right, yes, okay, so let's get going and see if we can shut this place down."


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes: I've used the countdown to disaster cliffhanger before, and it might seem like I'm recycling old stories, but I do like a good countdown to build the tension.**

**Chapter 10**

John led them out of the kennels, and along one of the featureless corridors, using his sonic as a guide to where he wanted to go. He had scanned the kennels from orbit three days earlier, when they had followed the animal collectors who had captured Marla, and now that data was being relayed from the TARDIS to his sonic. He stopped and looked at a blank wall, touched it, listened to it, sniffed it and licked it.

Marla gave Rose a look that questioned whether her husband was quite the full ticket, and Rose just shrugged her shoulders and gave an embarrassed smile. John adjusted the sonic and switched it on, causing a hole to open up in the wall, revealing a high tech alien control room. As they followed John inside, Marla saw that Rose's smile had turned from one of embarrassment, to one of pride.

"Wow! - This - is - like - something - out - of - Star - Trek," Marla said in amazement, turning a full circle to take it all in.

"You'll - get - used - to - it," Rose said to Marla with a grin.

The room had control consoles along each wall, and row upon row of video screens showing various parts of the facility, the cages, the reception area, the dining room, a night vision view of the park outside, everything seemed to be covered.

"Right, let's start shutting this place down, shall we?" John said, using his sonic to find the controls. "I think we'll have some light on the subject first." He pressed a button, and the security monitors suddenly brightened, as all the lights came on. "Hah! That's more like it; we can see what we're doing now."

"John, - if - this - place - is - on - automatic, why - is - there - all - this - surveillance - equipment - here?" Rose asked.

"A good question, but I would imagine that it was for the initial set up of the kennels, get the first few legitimate, non sentients through here, make sure it all works as expected, then leave it to do it's thing."

"It's - thing - being - to - take - anyone - and - turn - them - into - a - slave," Marla noted.

"I wonder if this data is being streamed off world to the owner of these kennels." John said. He moved over to a console and inspected a few terminals. He pushed a few buttons, raised a lever, and the security screens went blank. "There we are, that should stop any peeping toms.

Marla just looked on in amazement, as John moved around the control room as though he was born to do this stuff, it was certainly impressive. "Next, we'll get the cages open." He flicked some switches, pressed some buttons, and on an internal camera feed, they saw round holes start to appear in all the cages. "Oh hello, it looks like the orbs want to crash the party..., I don't think so," he said as he deactivated the orbs response protocols.

He started humming a tune, and started to sing his own lyrics. "The lunatics have taken over the asylum - gave me back my right to choose. The lunatics have taken over the asylum - gave me back my point of view. The lunatics have taken over the asylum. The lunatics have taken over the asylum - gave me back my dignity."

"Nice - lyrics," Rose said, giving him a peck on the cheek and a smile, and then she noticed some numbers counting down on a screen. She knew from previous experience that unless it was New Year, numbers counting down were usually bad.

"John, - what - are - these - numbers - counting - down?" John and Marla came and looked over her shoulder.

249…, 248….

"What - numbers?" Marla asked, all she could see were weird alien symbols changing on the screen.

John silently watched the numbers for a few seconds.

247…, 246….

"Oh no, this is bad, this is SO bad..., they're lutens, it's a clock counting down lutens." He started operating various controls on a variety of consoles, running around like a madman.

"John, - I've - heard - of - lutens - before," Rose said with concern.

A few years ago, they had uncovered a plot to turn Earth into a planet of zombie soldiers. When they'd found the alien culprits, they'd activated a self destruct mechanism to destroy their base and any evidence, and the self destruct had counted down in lutens.

"Well, that confirms what I was thinking," he said, mainly to himself. "That three armed web sprayer, its a modified torture device called the 'Manacle of Flesh', where the web strands are sharp and cut into the skin. And the collars are 'Prompters of Confessions', which does what it says on the tin."

Rose looked wide eyed in horror. "Caxtarids? - Are - you - tellin' - me - the - Caxtarids - are - behind - all - this?"

"Yeah, some of the nastiest slave traders in the galaxy, and this set up is pure profit for them."

"Excuse - me," Marla asked. "Can - someone - explain - what - is - going - on?"

"Alien - slave - traders, - they - make - the - Nazi's - look - like - boyscouts. - John, - how - long - have - we - got - before - this - place - blows?" Rose said.

John looked up from the console. "It's not going to blow, there are no excessive energy readings, no explosives. On a remote world like this, an explosion would attract a lot of attention."

"Then - what - is - it - counting - down - to?" Marla asked.

John looked up from the console, that was a Martha Jones question. "Kill all the witnesses, and let the jungle reclaim the building, no one will never know what went on here."

Rose nervously fingered the diamante collar around her neck. "Are - they - going - to - electrocute - us?"

"No, these collars are autonomous, not connected to the network, remember, they have to work halfway across the galaxy." He was pouring over the building schematics. "Aha! The ventilation ducts," he said and then fell silent.

"John, - what - is - it?" Rose asked, looking over his shoulder.

"Gas, there, in the middle of the ventilation shafts. They're going to gas everyone."

"Oh - God, - that's - awful," Marla said. "Can - you - stop - it?"

"Not from here, it locked me out when I tried. I'm going to have to crawl through the shaft and disable it manually." He moved quickly out of the room, turned right, and ran down the corridor, with Rose and Marla running after him. They went up a flight of stairs, and along another corridor. He ran into a room that was full of pipes, conduits, valves and gratings, and was obviously the environmental control centre.

John went to a console and brought up the countdown sequence on the screen. One hundred and eighty four lutens and counting. He searched around the room and stopped at a grating at knee height. "This is the one," he said, as he knelt down and pulled the grating off, revealing a horizontal ventilation shaft. He crouched down and tried to force his shoulders into the narrow shaft.

174…, 173…, 172….

"John, - don't - be - daft, - you'll - never - fit - in - there," Rose told him. "Shift - over, - let - me - have - try." She crouched down and tried to force her way in. "I - can't - quite - make - it, - maybe - if - I took - my - uniform - off."

Once again, Marla showed them that she was this universe's version of Martha. She took her bathrobe off and stepped forward. "What - do - I - have - to - do?"

"What?" John and Rose looked at her, looked at each other, and then looked back at her. "Martha, it's too dangerous, you're a civilian, you're not trained for this kind of work."

"And - you - two - don't - fit, - which - means - we - can - all - wait - here - and - get - gassed, - or - I - could - crawl - down - there - and - try - and - stop - it."

"She's - got - you - there - John."

John rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay, straight down to the junction, turn left and keep going until you see a canister with pipes and wires attached to it." He held up the sonic screwdriver. "I've set this to disable the actuator on the valve, just hold it against the cannister and press this button…, and good luck." He pulled her into a hug, and kissed her on the cheek.

157…, 156…, 155….

Rose gave her a hug and a kiss, before Marla crouched down and squeezed herself into the shaft. They watched as her naked bum and then her legs slowly disappeared into the shaft. They both crouched down and looked in to see how she was doing.

"You're - not - looking - at - my - fanny - are - you?" she said, trying to lift her spirits. "And - did - I - mention - I'm - claustrophobic?"

"Try not to think about that Martha and keep going," John shouted encouragingly.

"How - long - have - I - got?"

"You really don't want to know, just don't stop to admire the view."

134…, 133…, 132….

After a lot of shuffling noises and naked flesh squeaking against polished metal, they heard her stop. "Okay - I'm - at - a - four way - junction, - you - said - left - didn't - you?" the voice emulator echoed down the shaft towards them.

"YES, LEFT," John shouted. they heard more shuffling and banging.

"I'm - stuck!" Marla's emulator said. "I - can't - get - into - the - side - shaft, - it's - too - tight."

"Don't panic Martha, take a deep breath in, and then as you breath out, try to make the turn."

"It's - no - good, - I - can't - get - enough - leverage - there's - too - much - friction - on - my - skin."

"Friction!" Rose's emulator said, and she ran out of the room.

110…, 109…, 108….

["Rose, where are you going?"] John thought to her.

["The TARDIS, my moisturiser, she needs a lubricant."]

["Brilliant…, run!"]

["Hah! Just like old times."]

Marla had turned onto her right side to try and negotiate the ninety degree turn to her left, and was stuck in the shape of a question mark at the junction. Her right arm was out in front of her, and she had managed to squeeze her left arm down by her side to adjust her boobs so that they were lifted past the sharp corner. Her bum was against the opposite corner of the junction; she was limited for options and was starting to panic.

'Oh God, I don't want to die in here like this', she thought. 'Why the hell did I volunteer in the first place?' But she knew really, it was why she became a doctor, she wanted to help people, to make a difference. 'Little chance of that now', she thought.

Rose jumped down the stairs and sprinted down the corridor into the kennels, where she dodged around people who were just milling about. "Go - to - the - dining - hall - and - try - to - get - outside," she told them, not sure if they would be able to open the external doors and get out in time. She ran to the Induction Room, and ran into the TARDIS, making her way to the en suite in their bedroom.

71…, 70…, 69….

["Yes, got it!"]

["Rose, you're going to have to run like you've never run before."]

She was already sprinting back along the corridor, her hair flapping behind her. ["What, y'mean like my life depended on it?"] She took the steps, three at a time and skidded into the room, throwing the plastic squeezy bottle to him.

28…, 27…, 26….

"Martha, incoming lubricant," he called down the shaft, as he threw it as hard as he could.

"What? - Ow, - you - don't - want - to - know - where - that - hit - me. - Hang - on, - I've - got - it." They heard a squelching, squirting noise, followed by the squeak of lubricated skin on polished metal. "I - made - it, - I - made - it!"

"Brilliant, hurry up…, please..., just hurry."

Marla put the sonic between her teeth, and slithered along on her belly, pulling with her hands, and pushing with her toes. A few yards ahead, she could see a cylinder indented into the shaft.

10…, 9…, 8….

"I - can - see - it - up - ahead, - please - let - me - be - in - time." She reached her arm out as far as she could and just managed to touch the canister. She pressed the button on the sonic, and the shaft was filled with a blue glow, as it whistled and warbled, echoing like an organ pipe in the shaft. "Oh - God - no," she said, thinking that the blue glow and the noise was the gas being released.

John and Rose heard the sonic, and saw the faint blue glow and knew she had done it, but heard 'oh - God - no', echoing down the shaft. They glanced over at the countdown timer and it had stopped with three seconds left.

"Martha, are you alright...? You did it..., you did it..., and by our standards, you had plenty of time left."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Martha, are you alright...? You did it..., you did it..., and by our standards, you had plenty of time," she heard John shouting down the duct. She started to cry, tears of relief trickled down her cheeks as she let her head rest exhaustedly on the damp and slippery ventilation duct. Her body trembled with post adrenalin shock, and she knew she just had to wait for the adrenalin to be metabolised.

"Martha, can you hear me..., are you alright," John called again.

She forgot herself for a moment and nearly called out loud, before mouthing the words. "I'm - fine, - a - bit - wet - and - slippery, - but - I'm - fine."

"Oh - thank - God - for - that, - you'll - have - to - try - and - reverse - out," Rose said.

"I - don't - think - I - can, - I - can - only - crawl - forwards."

["John, how are we goin' to get her out?"]

"Hang on Martha, I've got an idea." John stood up and went over to the terminal, calling up the ventilation schematics. ["There, look, if she goes straight on and turns right at that junction, there's a grating that comes out in the ceiling downstairs."]

["Brilliant! I'll go down and find it."] Rose ran out of the room, and John knelt by the entrance to the duct.

"Martha, can you carry on forward, past the canister?" He called out.

"It'll - be - tight, - even - for - in - here, - but - think - so."

"Good girl, carry on, and take the next right, there will be a grating in the floor of the duct, and you should be able to see Rose."

"Okay, - if - I'm - a - good - girl, - do - I - get - a - treat?"

John thought about how she would have to travel home in the TARDIS and smiled. "Oh you are in for a real treat, trust me."

She managed to ease on to her side and gently squeeze past the deadly canister, not wanting to even touch it in case she set it off accidentally. It was tricky, but she did it, and carried on sliding along the duct until she came to the junction, rolling onto her left side, and adjusting the bits of her anatomy around the corners. She squirted some more baby oil on her chest and bum, and squeaked around the turn.

She was getting the hang of this now, particularly now that it was straight on to the exit. There was a dim light in the distance, which was getting brighter as she approached, and was that voices she could hear?

"Marla, - is - that - you?" She heard Rose's voice emulator ask.

"There's - no - Marla - here, - just - this - mole, - stuck - in - a - hole," she said light heartedly, her mood definitely lighter now.

"Keep - back - for - a - moment, - we're - going - to - pull - the - grating - off."

We? John must have run downstairs she thought, until she saw ten claws thrust through the grating, flex inward slightly, and pull it off the duct. Marla slid quickly along the duct, and poked her head through the opening, one human, and two catkind faces were looking up and beaming smiles at her.

"Hello," Rose said. "Squeeze - through, - and - Yarred - will - catch - you."

"Yarred?"

"Yeah, - Yarred - and - Jellibur," Rose said, nodding at the two cats in turn. "You - must - remember - them, - a - very…, - loving - couple."

Marla's emulator gave a beautiful, bubbly laugh, and started to slide out of the duct so that she could bend at the waist. The tomcat, Yarred, supported her shoulders, and she reached around his neck as he lowered her down out of the hole. She did a forward flip and landed in his arms.

"You're - making - a - habit - of - saving - me," she said with a smile. Yarred had no idea what she had said, but smiled at her and lowered her to the floor, where Rose gave her a big hug.

"Careful, if you squeeze too hard, she'll shoot up to the ceiling like a bar of soap in the shower, John said as he entered the room. "O-o-o-o-oh, these orange ones are a bit spicy," he said biting into a food ball. "A very nice green lady gave me one of these in the corridor."

He walked towards the group and gave Marla a hug. "You were brilliant Martha," he said, releasing the hug, and handing her the bathrobe. "Here, you might want to put this on."

"Thank - you, - and - you - might - want - this," she said, handing him his sonic screwdriver.

"My sonic, brilliant. I've got a bit of work to do with this, I'm just going to nip back to the TARDIS and knock up a little gadget, I'll be back soon."

Rose strolled over to him and kissed him on the lips. "See - you - later…, - don't - be - too - long."

"I won't, try and round everyone up in the Dining Hall in say…, half an hour, and I should have a surprise for them."

"Okay," she said and gave him another kiss, just for luck.

On his way back to the TARDIS, John ducked into the cage which contained the mannequin and put it under his arm, to take with him. When he arrived at the TARDIS, he went to the console and contacted the Shadow Proclamation to appraise them of the situation and to send a transport to repatriate the abductees.

He then wheeled the stepladder into the Induction Room and positioned them under the mechanical arms on the ceiling. He climbed up the steps, took his sonic out of his pocket, and started unbolting the collar applicator mechanism. When it was free of its mounting, he was able to take it into the TARDIS, where he could make some modifications.

In the workshop, he used the data from his sonic to reprogram the applicator, and with the addition of some extra wiring, induction coils, and a component that went 'ping', he had constructed a collar extractor, which he hoped would give his wife her voice back.

"Right, just need to bond a couple of handles to this, and it should be ready for testing," he said to the TARDIS.

He wheeled the steps into the workshop, and stood the mannequin next to them, climbing up until he was able lower the collar extractor over its head. "Right then Manny, lets get that collar off." He pressed the button, and the arms touched the collar, and started to constrict it even more.

"No, no, no, no, no," John shouted in panic, pressing the button again to stop the arms. Manny the mannequins head, balanced precariously on its shoulders, if it had been able to nod its head, it would have fallen off. He changed the setting on his sonic, and pointed it at the control box.

He grimaced and pressed the button again, this time the arms started to open out, pulling the collar out with it until the 'component that goes ping', went ping. He lifted the collar into the air, and Manny's head fell off.

"Hmmm, best not mention that to Rose," he said, as he pulled the collar of the arms.

Marla was eating what she hoped was her last meal of dough balls, with Rose, Yarred, Jellibur, and others. They were quite tasty and nutritious, but a bit 'doughy' and boring.

"So - how - do - you - know - their - names?" Marla asked Rose, nodding at the catkind couple.

"I - asked - them, - and - they - mouthed - them."

"You - can - speak - their - language?" she asked in amazement, her appreciation of this incredible woman just went through the roof.

"Yeah, - I - can - speak - all - alien - languages."

"No - way…, - you're - kidding." Her appreciation was now off the scale.

Before Rose could explain, John entered the Dining Hall, carrying the three armed extractor. "Okay folks, roll up, roll up, come this way for the removal of those annoying collars," he said with a cheeky smile. There was spontaneous applause and banging of cups on tables, as Rose stood and walked over to him.

"Well, - I'm - here, - why - don't - you - show - me - your - moves?"

"My pleasure..., here, come and sit on the bench at the end of the table," he said as he stepped up on to the bench and then the table.

He couldn't see her face, but she was a bit apprehensive. "This - is - safe, - right, - it's - not - goin' - to - electrocute - me - or - anythin'?"

"Er, no, there is absolutely no risk of electrocution," he answered honestly, decapitation on the other hand, a very slight risk. "I've tested it on Manny and worked out all the bugs."

"Manny?"

"The mannequin, Manny the mannequin…, now hold still." He pressed the button and watched the arms close in around her diamante collar. He held his breath and his thumb over the button, just in case. "Of course, Manny couldn't tell me if it hurt or not," he added as the arms started to stretch the collar away from her neck.

"Wha?" her voice emulator said as the 'component that goes ping', pinged. He lifted the extractor over her head, and leapt to the floor to face her as she stood. He looked carefully into her beautiful hazel eyes.

"Say something then," he urged.

She rubbed her throat, worked her neck and shoulders around, cleared her throat, swallowed and vibrated her vocal chords for the first time in five days. "I love you," she said simply. "I - love - you," the emulator echoed.

The crowd applauded, and John pulled her into a hug and a passionate kiss. "I love you too, now, let's get everyone else sorted." He jumped back up on the table, and smiled at Marla. "Come on Martha; let's hear those dulcet tones of yours."

Marla walked forwards and sat on the bench, he lowered the arms, pressed the button, the collar stretched and the component pinged. He lifted the collar off, and waited while she turned around and looked up at him. "Hello," she said, followed by 'hello' from the emulator.

"Oh brilliant," he enthused. "You even sound like you," he said, which puzzled everyone except Rose, who knew exactly what he meant.

It was Jellibur's turn next, and when her collar was removed, and she'd thanked John with a lick on the cheek, she went over to Rose and Marla. While John had been in the TARDIS, Marla had told Rose about the alien that had wanted to rape her, and how the catkind couple had rescued her.

"Thank you for looking after my friend, she is very grateful," Rose told her.

"At last I am able to say 'you are welcome' with my own voice." Marla heard various meowing and purring noises, which Rose translated for her, and they had a group hug.

Next, it was Yarred's turn to have his collar removed, and he growled with pleasure when it was removed. "My mate and I are indebted to you sir," he said with a low, resonant voice.

"My pleasure," John said with a grin, and watched as he went over to his mate and gently tugged her tail to pull her into an embrace.

The rest of the morning was taken up with removing the collars of all the inmates, some were intelligent and sentient, and others were as intelligent as dogs or monkeys, but were not really sentient. After their collars were removed, most people wandered into the park, to enjoy it properly for the first time. John looked at the sullen face of a large, muscular, dark skinned alien as it came to his turn to have his collar removed.

John removed the collar, and Rose came up to him. "Oi, you, what's the deal with you tryin' to rape my friend?" she said angrily.

"On my world, it is seen as a great compliment for one such as me to want to mate with a female. Our females are completely submissive, and welcome the bonding with a male," he said with a scowl, as John translated for Marla.

"Well, you're not on your planet, are ya? So back off," Rose said.

"Er, Rose," John said quietly. "Humanising alien culture again," he said in a sing-song voice. "And that scowl is a normal face for his people; he's not angry or anything."

"But it was Martha, I mean Marla, you've got me at it now," she said all flustered. "He was goin' to rape her."

"And Marla, who is as resourceful and quick witted as Martha, sought help and was rescued, so let's just put it down to a cultural misunderstanding that turned out alright in the end."

Rose was about to protest, when Marla put a hand on her arm and spoke to the alien. "I don't know if you can understand me, but I thank you for the compliment. A strong, well fit man like you would be quite a catch; however, I wish to make my own choice of mate."

John raised his eyebrows in admiration, this was surely Martha Jones. He translated her words, and the alien bowed to Marla, before turning and wandering off into the park.

The last alien to have his collar removed was the one Jack had nicknamed Tarzan. He seemed only semi intelligent, as though sentience was a new development in his species and he was still getting used to it. John removed the collar, and Tarzan grabbed it and bit it hard.

"Sting me would you? I'll show you." He banged it several times on the table and threw it through the doors into the park. "There, that showed him." He gave John a manic smile. "When that floating ball kept trying to tell me to do stupid things, that collar would sting me, but I showed them in the end."

"Yes you did," John said with a laugh.

"He kept running at the fence and trying to jump over it," Rose explained.

"You know, I nearly cleared the fence on my last try, I reckon with a boost I could clear the fence and escape."

"But you're free," John told him. "You can walk out the front door."

"Hah! And where is the satisfaction in that? If someone takes my freedom, I take it back," he said.

John grinned at him, he understood that sentiment. "You know what, you're right. Come on, I'll give you that boost," he said, running out into the park, and towards the fence. Rose and Marla just stood there, looking on in disbelief. John stood facing the fence, with his knees bent and his arms resting on his thighs.

He heard the rapid footsteps of Tarzan approaching, and felt a single bird like foot on his back as he launched himself into the air. He watched in wonder, as Tarzan sailed over the fence and landed perfectly on the other side, his backward facing knees acting like a shock absorber.

John shook his head, laughing at the satisfied grin on Tarzan's face. "Watch the skies, there is a ship coming to take you home, come to the front of the building when you see it land."

Tarzan nodded, and sprinted off into the surrounding jungle, as Rose and Marla walked up to him.

"What was all that about?" Rose asked.

John looked at her and held her hand. "The freedom to choose freedom on your own terms, he's a primitive, proto sentient species, give him somewhere to run and to hunt, and he's as happy as Larry."

"And is that it then, are we done here?" Rose asked as they wandered back into the Dining Hall.

"Yeah, we've got a way of getting the collars off now, the Shadow Proclamation are on their way to collect everyone and repatriate them, and they are contacting all the people who have bought pets from Pets-Assist."

"Time to go then," Rose said.

"How did you get here, I didn't see a space ship outside," Marla said.

"Oh right, of course, you haven't seen it yet, have you? Do you remember the treat I promised you?" he asked as they walked down the corridor to the Induction Room.

"Yes."

"Well, here it is," he said, as they stood in front of the TARDIS.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"No, no, no," Marla said, running back into the Induction Room, and walking around the TARDIS. "But it's just a box…, but it's huge."

John and Rose stood either side of the doors, leaning against the outside of the TARDIS with their arms and legs crossed, and big grins on their faces.

"How does it do that? It's wood. It's like a box with that room just rammed in," she said, stepping back inside. "It's bigger on the inside," she said, and John silently mouthed her words, grinning cheekily at Rose as he did so. He then stopped looking amused and started looking amazed, as he realised that It was a word for word replay of when Martha had first entered the TARDIS in the old universe, how weird was that.

"Hmmm, that's bizarre, that was an exact replay of when Martha first stepped in the TARDIS in the old universe," John said.

"Really, is that possible," Rose asked.

"Okay, time out here," Marla said forming a 'T' with her hands. "I need some answers here before I go completely mad."

John and Rose looked at each other with raised eyebrows, and then at Marla. "Er, yeah, okay, what do you want to know," John said, as Rose started to put the TARDIS into the Vortex.

"What? Oh, right, well, first of all, who's this Martha you keep calling me?"

"She's you," he said simply.

"You mean I look like her and remind you of her?"

"Well of course you look like her, because she's you, and you're her." He looked at her as though she'd dribbled down her bathrobe.

"You'll get used to that look," Rose said, putting her arm around her shoulders. "He's not very good at explain' this stuff, so let me try, what we are about to tell you is covered by the Official Secrets Act, are you okay with that."

"Hey, I've been abducted by aliens, and I'm standing in a room that's too big for the box around it, what do you think."

"Good point, so do you remember when I hit the headlines nine years ago, suddenly appearing from college in Switzerland?"

"Vaguely, yeah."

"Well, I never went to college, in Switzerland or anywhere else for that matter. I actually came from another universe, another reality, where everythin' is virtually the same, but not quite." Marla looked at her disbelievingly.

"Rose and her mother came through first," John said quietly, as though he didn't want to wake the slumbering memories. "We were separated for three, long years, thinking that we would never see each other again." He came and held Rose's hand as he told the story; Marla could see the pain of the memory in their eyes.

"Shortly after we were separated, I was involved in another kind of alien abduction, where the Royal Hope Hospital was moved to the moon."

"The Republican Hope," she corrected. "That's where I've got to be on Monday to start my Foundation Year One."

"It was the Royal Hope in our universe, we still had a royal family," Rose told her.

"There was this feisty medical student who helped me catch an alien killer, so that the hospital could be returned to Earth. Her name was Martha Jones, and it was that universe's version of you, every cell, every molecule, every atom. So I'm sorry if it bothers you, but I can't help it, you are my friend Martha."

Marla stood silently, looking at them standing there, holding hands as though their life depended on that simple gesture. There was no doubt that they believed what they were saying, and standing inside a room that couldn't possibly be inside that wooden, blue box, why shouldn't she believe them as well.

"Okay, secondly, this place," she said looking up at the vaulted ceiling and holding her arms out. "What's all this about?"

"Ah, transdimentional engineering, a bit tricky that one, it tends to make human brains a bit wobbly."

"Wobbly?" Marla asked.

"Wobbly," Rose said. "Think 'Magic Eye' pictures, y'know, go a bit 'boss eyed' and you see a three dimensional picture that wasn't there before."

"Ooh, that's not bad," John said with a smile. "But it's more like an iceberg, you can see the small bit above the water, that's the blue box, and the large bit is hidden under the water, that's the bit in here."

"You do realise that this is completely mad, don't you? And that green column going up and down, are we in flight or something, how can you fly out of a building?"

John looked at Rose and squeezed her hand; that was another Martha type question, the same kind of intelligent question that Rose always asks.

"Yes, we're in flight, the TARDIS distorts time and space to enter the Vortex, where we leave normal space in one place, and re-enter it somewhere else."

"Oh, right, of course. And where do we re-enter?"

"Hah! Here, come and see." He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the console view screen. "See that dot there," he said, pointing at a cursor on the screen. "That's Jack's transponder tattoo, I sent the activation signal when we came on board."

"Transponder tattoo?" Marla asked.

"Yeah, remember my tattoo on my hip, and Jack's on his shoulder?"

"Oh yes, the concentric circles and lines, very unusual."

"Well, they're not ink, they're millions of microscopic circuits that form a transmitter, we can activate them ourselves if we get into trouble, or they can be activated by Torchwood if they lose contact with us," Rose explained.

"Really? That's very clever, and where is Jack then?"

"The first planet that the shuttle stopped at, in a penthouse apartment of a skyscraper in what appears to be the capital city," John said. "I think a roof landing may be appropriate, hold on tight, we're going in."

Hold on tight, why, what kind of ship was this where you had to hold on tight? She looked over the console at Rose and John who were grinning like Cheshire cats, as they flicked switches, pulled levers, and pushed buttons. There was a soft bump, and the time rotor stopped moving.

"Ooh, nicely done Wife, very smooth."

"Thank you Doc," she said with a tongue through the teeth smile, and a wink at Marla. "And they go on about women drivers."

Marla returned the smile, and was about to ask what happened next, when Rose spotted something…, something really important. "You've only got that bathrobe on, you can't go gallivantin' about on an alien planet dressed only in a bathrobe."

Marla looked down at the robe. "Why not, I've been gallivanting about naked on a planet for the last few days, I feel positively overdressed for the occasion," she said with a smile.

Rose laughed and put an arm around her shoulders. "Come on, I'll take you to our bedroom, you can use the shower and help yourself to some of my clothes, they should fit you."

Fifteen minutes later, Marla appeared back in the console room, degreased, and dressed in denim jeans, white vest top, blue hoodie, and white trainers, the standard adventures uniform.

"That feels better, thanks for the loan of the clothes."

"No problem, now let's go and rescue Jack."

They stepped out into a warm, balmy night, on the roof of a very tall building, overlooking the city lights that stretched into the distance like an illuminated spider's web. A large, orange moon sat on the horizon, and a smaller silver moon was half way between the horizon and directly overhead.

"Oh, this is beautiful," Marla said quietly.

"Yeah, it never gets old," Rose said with a grin.

"Come on you two, can't stand out here gossiping all night," John said as he headed for the roof door. Rose and Marla rolled their eyes, laughed, and set off after him. He had already 'sonicked' the lock by the time they reached him, and they quietly went inside, and started to descend the stairs.

They found the door of the apartment where Jack's signal was coming from, and John 'sonicked' the lock and carefully opened the door and popped his head around to have a look. Rose's head popped around under his and Marla' under hers.

"Mmmm, nice flat," Rose commented in a whisper.

"Yeah, love the thing she's got going on with the drapes there," Marla replied.

"Yeah, and the colour scheme, subtle pastel shades, she's got taste." They stopped and looked up, to see John looking down at them.

"What is this, some kind of makeover show?" He asked.

"No..., we were just, er..., assessing the threat level," Rose said quickly.

"Yes, threat level," Marla agreed.

"Threat level?" John said with a smirk.

"Yeah, I mean a woman with this much money and taste wouldn't want to chip her nail varnish by fighting, now would she?"

"No," John said. "She'd employ some reptilian gorilla to do that for her."

"Oh yeah, hadn't thought of that," Rose said with a smile. Busted, they'd been admiring the decor.

There was an expensive looking sofa facing the fireplace, the back of which was facing the door where they stood. There was gentle mood music playing in the background, and john put his sonic in his pocket.

"When I popped the lock, I scanned for life forms, and there are two in here, on that sofa over there." John waggled his eyebrows and loudly cleared his throat. "AHEM!"

Jacks head popped up and turned to look at them like a startled deer, his eyes wide, and his mouth open. Before he could react to the three people standing by the door, there was a sharp tug on his leash, and he disappeared back down onto the sofa. When he surfaced again, he had a sexy, naked lizard lady wrapped around him, with a mouth that seemed to be trying to vacuum his tongue out of his mouth.

"I suppose this is another tale you can tell where you end up naked again, isn't it?" John said with a smirk.

Rose and Marla looked at each other and burst into a fit of giggles, as John stood there smirking at him. Jack stood up and tried to extricate himself from the reptilian limpet, but he didn't seem to have enough arms. She had her arms wrapped around his neck, and her legs around his waist, and seemed to be having to much fun with her pet to let him go.

He turned his back on the group, so that she was facing them, and when she casually opened her eyes, they went wide, and her dreadlocks raised the ruff of skin in surprise. She jumped off Jack and tried to cover her exposed body with her hands.

"Who are you, what do you want? Please don't hurt me."

"Please don't worry," Rose said, holding her hands up in a placating gesture. "We've only come to collect our friend and take him home."

"Your friend?" The lizard lady said looking around and through Jack as though he wasn't there.

"Yeah, Stud there, his name is Jack, and he's an agent for the Torchwood Institute on a planet called Earth," John told her.

The lizard lady had put on a silk dressing gown, and looked Jack up and down. "Really, a secret agent?" She cooed, almost drooling over him. "He doesn't behave like a secret agent, he behaves like my pet."

"That's the collar he's wearing making him do that, do you remember seeing me in the reception at the kennels? I was wearing one as well," Rose said.

"Oh yes, I didn't recognise you with clothes on, and it was the collar controlling you?"

"Yes, it was," John said. "And I'm sorry, but we need him back now, you'll be refunded of course, when the investigation is completed."

"Oh, can't I keep him?" She asked, hugging his arm.

Rose went over and hugged his other arm. "As much as Jack would love to stay and be pampered, I think Rex would have something to say about that," she grinned.

{"Rex! He doesn't have to know about this does he?"} Jack mouthed. {"I mean, nothing happened…, honest,"}

"Only because we turned up," Rose teased.

"Who's Rex?" Marla asked.

"Jack's partner," Rose explained.

"What, like his field partner, a Torchwood agent?"

"No, his 'partner' partner," Rose said with a knowing smile.

"Oh," Marla said, looking up at Jack, who was looking suitably worried at being caught in such a compromising situation. "What a shame," she purred.

"Thank you for your cooperation Miss, if you could visit your local law enforcement office in the next few days and give a statement, that would help our investigation," John said, and started shepherding the group out of the door.

"Come here you," Rose said as she grabbed Jack's leash. "Walk to heel," she said with her teasing smile, and Jack knew he had to do what she said if he didn't want one of those annoying shocks.

They made their way up the stairs, and back to the TARDIS, with Jack trailing obediently behind Rose. She hadn't finished with him when she walked up the ramp to the console.

"Sit, there's a good boy," she said mischievously."

{"I am SO going to get you back for this,"} he mouthed, as he sat on the jump seat. He waved his hand to attract John's attention. {"Doc, help me out here, before your wife has me doing her laundry."}

John, Rose, and Marla burst out laughing, and John picked up the three armed extractor. "Hold still and I'll have that off you in a second."

"Ahh, do you have to? I could have so much fun with him," Rose said.

John pressed the button, and the collar stretched out until it pinged, and he lifted the collar over Jack's head.

"Ugh, thanks Doc, that's better," he said as he rubbed his neck. "And you young lady, are in for a severe tickling."

A naked Jack Harkness leapt up and grabbed for her, she squealed and dodged out of the way and ran out of the console room with Jack in pursuit.

"They seem like close friends," Marla said to John, who was powering up the console.

He looked up and smiled. "Yeah, they have a special bond those two; they've saved each others lives in the past." He selected the 3-dimensional spatial coordinates for Torchwood, from the favourite destinations menu, and left the temporal coordinates in neutral. "Right, next stop Torchwood."

"We're going home then?" Marla asked hopefully.

"Yeah, we've done as much as we can here, the Shadow Proclamation can take it from now on." He saw her questioning look. "They're a sort of galactic police force."

He powered up the atom accelerator, and released the time rotor handbrake.

"What about the people responsible for all this?" Marla asked.

John rubbed the back of his neck. "Wellll, there's no proof it was the Caxtarids, the kennels are a generic, kit form building, and although the Induction Room is based on modified Caxtarid torture equipment, it was probably built by a sub contractor."

He activated the inertial dampers, engaged the harmonic generator, and released the locking down mechanism, as Jack carried a laughing and squealing Rose back into the console room.

"Say you're sorry," he said as he tickled her again. "Say you're sorry."

"Aaaghhh, I'm sorry," she laughed.

John finished by pulling the engine release lever, activating the materialise/dematerialise function, and gradually increasing the space-time throttle to start the time rotor pumping and sending them into the Vortex, and home.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Torchwood Special Operations Standby Room.**

**Torchwood Tower, Canary Wharf.**

Most of White Watch were out on various 'shouts', so the Standby Room was quiet. Duncan 'Doughnut' Prescott was the Field Agent Supervisor for the shift, and was in the glass fronted office, keeping up to date with the status on all the missions. Chrissie 'Brains' Anderson entered the office with two cups of coffee, putting one on his desk.

"Busy shift?" She said looking through the glass at the empty Standby Room.

"Yeah, nothing big though, just little jobs to keep 'em out of trouble."

At that point they both looked through the glass as they heard the sound of the TARDIS.

"Well I'll be damned," Duncan said. "They're back."

He picked up his coffee, and they wandered through to the black and yellow striped landing area, where the TARDIS was slowly appearing. The sound stopped, and it was a few seconds before the right hand door opened inwards, and Rose stepped out.

"ROSE!" Chrissie called out, she put her coffee on the low table, and rushed forward to give her a big hug. "Julia said she'd seen you on her shift, how are you?"

"I'm fine; I've even got my voice back." Marla stepped out of the TARDIS, with Jack behind her, wearing a bathrobe.

"So this is Torchwood then?" Marla asked, looking around at the impressive room.

"Yep," John said as he closed the TARDIS door. "Special Operations Unit, where we protect the Earth from the scum of the universe," he said, quoting 'Men in Black'.

"Don't listen to him, "Rose told her. "We're more like the galactic version of the Foreign Office, with a bit of MI5 thrown in for good measure."

"Duncan, Chrissie, good to see you," John said. "May I introduce Dr. Martha Jones, all round brilliant person." Duncan and Chrissie shook her hand and said hello.

"Oh, your family arrived a few hours ago, they're in the Courtesy Suite upstairs," Duncan said. "Would you like me to take you to them?"

"My family's here? Oh yes please, they'll have been so worried."

"Not really," Duncan replied. "We told them that you were safe and being looked after by two of our most experienced field agents, one of which happens to be the director."

"Director?" Marla asked, all confused. "I thought Rose's dad was director."

"Dad announced his retirement last Christmas," Rose said. "He asked Jack to take over, what with his experience of running Torchwood Three in the old universe."

Marla realised that she had seriously underestimated Jack Harkness if he was director of the Torchwood Institute.

"This way then," Duncan said, indicating the way with his arm, and Marla followed him out to the lifts.

"When I've got some clothes on and had a cup of coffee, I'll come and see your family and say hello," Jack said as they left the Standby Room.

Duncan and Marla stood in the lift in an awkward, embarrassed silence, both acutely aware of how attractive the other one was.

"So, you're a doctor then Martha," he said as an opening gambit.

"Er, yeah..., and it's Marla actually," she said, looking up from under her eyelids at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry; I thought the Doc said it was Martha."

Marla gave what he considered to be a beautiful, bubbly laugh. "John said it would be simpler for him to call me Martha."

"Trust me, where the Doc's concerned, nothing's simple," he said with a smile that crinkled what she considered to be beautiful blue eyes.

The lift went 'ding'. "Ah, this is our floor," he said and led the way to the hospitality suite. "I'll leave you to get reunited with your family, and Jack will be along later to say hello. Maybe I can see you later..., I don't know maybe go through the debrief or something?"

He opened the door of the hospitality suite, and she squeezed past him, closer than she needed to. "I'd like that, yeah," she smiled.

"Really? Oh, great, well, I'll see you later then," he said beaming a smile at her. He closed the door after her as he heard squeals of delight from her family.

**Sitting Room.**

**Tyler Mansion.**

John and Rose stepped out of the TARDIS in the living room of the Tyler mansion, and straight into a group hug from Jackie, Pete, Tony, EJ and little Juleshka, who was in Jackie's arms. There were tears, and laughter and questions all at once, but Rose only had eyes and ears for her children that she hadn't seen for four days. She sat on the sofa with Juleshka on her lap and Eyulf between her and John.

Alistair, the non butling butler brought in the tea, and she proceeded to tell everyone as much as she could about the mission, and how she had never been in any real danger, and how the little alien girl had been heartbroken when she found out that Rose wasn't her pet.

"And did Jack behave himself?" Jackie asked. "What with ya all bein' naked an' all."

"Wha?" Rose blushed. "How did ya find out about that?" She asked.

"Sorry Mummy," EJ said, not looking sorry at all.

Rose and john laughed. "He behaved as much as he could, you know what he's like," Rose said.

"Yeah, I do, that's the problem," Jackie replied. "Anyway, you're stayin' for dinner aren't ya?"

"Yeah, that'll be great Mum, thanks."

While they were waiting for dinner, Rose got down on the floor with John, and played with their son and daughter, laughing and chuckling as they had fun with their toys. She had really missed this, and was determined to make up for lost time.

Eventually they went through to the dining room, and Rose sat Juleshka in her high chair, where, to everyone's amusement, she tried to feed herself with her plastic spoon. Most of the conversation revolved around the children, Rose was asking what they had been up to while she had been away, with Jackie, Eyulf and Tony only to happy to fill in the details.

John could sense that Rose was thinking about something, but she wasn't letting on as to what about. She often mulled things over in private and then discussed them with him when she had organised her thoughts.

"So Dad, how's retirement suitin' ya, d'yer miss all the excitement?" Rose asked Pete, as they ate.

"Well, I still keep an eye on the status boards in my office, and I go in occasionally to help Jack with the paperwork and say hello to everyone, so not really. I enjoy not having to get up early, and I enjoy spending time with the kids." Rose went quiet as she thought about what her father had told her.

John told Pete and Jackie about Marla Jones, how she was just like Martha in the old universe, and how she had saved everyone in the kennels. Jackie then told Pete how she had met Martha on the Dalek crucible, and how brave and resourceful she was.

They had dessert, and then went back to the living room, where the Smith's got ready to leave. John took the baby bag and toys into the TARDIS, whilst Jackie and Pete had a goodnight hug and kiss with their grandchildren.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Rose said, before entering the TARDIS and closing the door. John started the time rotor, and they made their way home.

**Northumberland Place, Notting Hill.**

**London.**

John was lying in bed, waiting for Rose to come out of the en suite, when he heard Rose gasp. "Oh my God, John!"

He leapt out of bed, grabbed his dressing gown, and ran into the en suite. "What is it, what's the matter?"

She was holding up a rectangular foil packet with bubbles embossed into it. "My pill..., I haven't been takin' my pill while I was stuck in the kennels."

"Oh right, well, it won't hurt will it, just for a few days?"

"But on the TARDIS, we did 'it'."

John smiled at the memory. "Yeah we did, didn't we?"

"But what if I'm ovulatin'?"

"Ah, well the chances of that are fairly remote..., aren't they?"

"I don't know."

"Nah, you'll be fine," he said unconvincingly, and they stood there looking at each other.

"The TARDIS," they said together, and he grabbed her hand and headed for the basement.

In the TARDIS Medi-Bay, Rose lay on a medi-bed in her dressing gown, while John ran a high tech scanning device over her pelvis.

"That tickles," she giggled as the data started to appear on a screen on the wall.

John smiled at her. "Okay, I'm done; let's have a look at your womb shall we?"

"I bet you say that to all the girls," she said with a teasing smile.

"Ah," John said, ignoring her humorous quip.

"Ah? What ah? Is that a good ah, or a bad ah?" Rose asked, slightly concerned at his 'ah'.

"Well, that all depends on your point of view."

"My point of view, what about my point of view?"

John brought up the data on the screen. "See that graph, that's your luteinizing hormone level, and it's surged."

"And is that good?"

"Again, that depends…."

"On my point of view. What is my point of view?"

"If I zoom in on your left fallopian tube…, there, see that," he said, pointing at a blob on the screen.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"An ovum…, a mature egg cell."

Rose grinned. "Really, that's one of my eggs?"

"Yep, and if I move the view down to your uterus…, see that," he pointed to a shimmering patch.

"Yeah, what's that?"

"That puddle, is millions of my spermatozoa, swimming towards your ovum, go on my lads, go for it."

Rose lay silently looking at the screen, trying to take in what he was telling her. "So…, are you're tellin' me, that at the moment, I'm not pregnant, but I soon will be?"

"Er, yeah, in a few hours actually…, so, how's your point of view now, good or bad?" he asked apprehensively, not quite able to read her expression, or her thoughts

Rose could feel his uncertainty, and his excitement, he was transmitting on all frequencies. She became excited herself; it was an unexpected surprise, a brilliant, unexpected surprise.

She grabbed him around the neck. "Y'know, I thought feelin' our baby's first thought was the earliest I could ever find out I was pregnant, an' now you're tellin me that I'm goin' to be pregnant in a few hours."

"Yeah."

Her face broke into an enormous grin. "Brilliant…, how cool is that? Bloody brilliant…, oh my God, I'm goin' to be pregnant," she squealed.

John's face broke into a grin to match hers, and she pulled him into a snog, running her hands through his fantastic hair. He lifted her off the medi-bed and carried her out of the TARDIS, kissing her again and again. He carried her up the stairs, and into their bedroom, and laid her gently on the bed.

"Do you think the lads in there..." He rubbed her lower abdomen. "... Need any re-enforcements?"

She grinned at him. "It wouldn't hurt, would it, y'know, just to be sure?" And so, that night, John proceeded to send in three lots of re-enforcements..., just to be sure.

Rose, awoke early the next morning, with a smile and a warm glow from the knowledge that she was now pregnant. She had her arm under John's head, and she gently played with his hair. He was laying against her, with his arm over her chest, his hand cupping her breast, and his one leg over hers.

She felt him starting to stir. "Mornin' Love," she whispered as she kissed the top of his head.

"Morning," he said as he kissed the nipple closest to him. "Someone's in a good mood," he said, sensing that she had finished mulling over her problems.

"Yeah..., John, I've been thinkin'," she started.

"Mmmm, I know," he said, still paying lip service to her nipple.

"You know..., have you been peeping?"

"No, it was like standing outside the board room, knowing there was a high level meeting going on inside."

"Oh, yeah, I suppose it was really, because I think I've come to a decision, and I'd like to know what you think."

John stopped sucking her nipple and looked up at her. She had a look of uncertainty about her as she started to explain. "Well, y'know how in the old universe, we used to go gallivantin' about without a care in the world, no ties, no responsibilities, and it was brilliant?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, now I've got ties, I've got responsibilities, and this week has made me realise how important those ties and responsibilities are."

John could see where the conversation was heading. "And what are you saying; that you want to quit Torchwood?"

"Not completely, no, and I don't want a desk job, that'd drive me crazy. I was thinkin' of askin' Jack if I could work as a shift supervisor or somethin', I mean I've got years of experience in the field."

John smiled at her. "That would be brilliant, we could still work together, and I wouldn't have to worry about you."

"No, it'll just be me worryin' about you," she said with a smile. "An' we've still got the TARDIS to travel about in, and I know the young girl wouldn't take us anywhere where the kids would be in danger."

"And you get to wear that smart dress uniform every day," John said, waggling his eyebrows.

"Got a thing about women in uniform have ya?"

"No," John said, pretending to be hurt by the accusation. "I've got a thing about you in uniform."

"Shut up," she said with a laugh. "C'mon, it's time to get the kids up."

They fell into their daily routine, John went and had a shower, while Rose went and woke Eyulf and Juleshka, to get them dressed. Then John took them down for breakfast, while Rose showered and put her makeup on.

Together in the living room, after breakfast, they got the baby bag together with all the things that Jackie and Pete would need for the day. Eyulf went out to the DeLorian with John, whilst Rose carried Juleshka.

"Bye you lot," Donna the house computer said as they went out through the front door.

"Bye Donna, see you later," they called back.

After dropping the kids off at the mansion, they drove to Torchwood Tower, and got changed into their black uniforms in the locker rooms. They met up again in the Standby Room for a cup of coffee and Andy's morning briefing, where the few jobs that were outstanding were issued. Rose and John excused themselves, and went up to Jack's office on the top floor.

"Jack, can we have a word?" Rose asked as she put her head around the glass door of the glass fronted office.

"Rosie, John, of course you can, my door is always open to my best friends," he said with a warm smile, indicating the two comfy chairs in front of the desk. "What can I do for you?"

Rose looked at John for reassurance, and got it with a nod, before she looked back at Jack. "I want to resign as a Field Agent," she said without preamble.

Jack looked stunned. "What leave Torchwood? What's the matter is something wrong?"

Rose smiled at him. "No, there's nothin' wrong, and I don't want to leave Torchwood, I love it here. It's just that this last week has made me realise that I'm not that nineteen year old shop girl anymore. I have a family that needs me, and I need to be there for them."

Jack breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness for that, I thought I was losing one of my best agents then. So, what have you got in mind?"

"Well, I was wonderin' if you'd let me be a shift supervisor, I mean, I've got enough years experience in the field, and I've done it in the past when I've been pregnant." Rose said.

Jack grinned at her. "You know, I think that would be a brilliant idea, let me have a word with HR, and I'll arrange a meeting for after lunch."

"Oh Jack, thank you, that's a relief," Rose said, smiling at him and squeezing John's hand.

"Okay, if you head back down to Special Operations and let Andy know that I need to see you after lunch," Jack said, standing to see them out of the office.

"Er…, actually Jack, I've been thinking about what Rose has said, and I think it's time I followed her lead, and did the same.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

John and Rose pulled up in the DeLorian, in front of the steps of the mansion. They grinned at each other and opened the gull wing doors. Eyulf released himself from his seatbelt, while Rose leaned into the back and lifted Juleshka out of her seat. They climbed the steps together and the door opened, with Alistair standing there, smiling at them.

"Dr and Mrs Smith, you're looking very smart this morning," Alistair said as they walked past. Rose gave him a peck on the cheek, and he held his fist out for John and Eyulf to 'bump'.

"Thank you Alistair, it's sort of a special occasion," Rose said.

They went through to the living room, where Jackie and Pete were sitting with Tony as he watched some children's TV before going to school.

Jackie's mouth fell open as she saw her daughter and son-in-law enter the room. John was wearing a dark grey, pinstriped suit, which looked really smart, until she saw the white trainers on his feet (old habits die hard). Rose was wearing the Torchwood dress uniform of knee length black skirt and jacket, with white blouse and neck tab, and her black, Giuseppe Zanotti, calf length boots.

"Well, look at you two," Jackie said. "Don't we look smart?"

"Mornin' Mum..., John and me have got somethin' to tell ya."

"Oh," Jackie was suddenly worried. She looked over to Pete so see if he knew what it was that they wanted to tell them, but Pete shrugged his ignorance.

Rose and John sat down on the sofa. "We've resigned as Field Agents," she told them. "Today we start our new posts at Torchwood; I'm a Senior Field Agent Supervisor, and John's Senior Scientific Advisor."

Pete and Jackie looked at each other. "So what does that mean then, have ya finished goin' out an' lookin' for trouble?" Jackie asked them.

"Yes Love," Pete said. "It means that they'll be based at Canary Wharf, and may occasionally be asked to supervise investigations in the field."

"Oh thank God," Jackie said, reaching over and grabbing Rose's hand. For the first time since she'd met that daft alien, Jackie felt that she could stop worrying about her daughter.

Rose squeezed her mum's hand. "Those days I spent in that kennel, away from the kids, I found it hard Mum. I missed them, and I realised that it was time to start thinkin' about the future and what's best for my family, 'all' of my family." She stressed the 'all'. "Y'know, my husband and my children…, all of them."

Jackie caught that; didn't she mean 'both of them'?

"... All three of them," Rose reiterated. She sat there with John, smiling, while they waited for the penny to drop, and when it did drop, Jackie leapt up and pulled Rose into a hug. "You're havin' another baby?" She cried.

"Yeah," Rose cried with her mum. "We only found out the other day, and don't even ask when it's due, on the weirdness meter, this one's off the scale."

"I've come to expect nothin' less from you pair," Jackie said, rolling her eyes.

"John did this scan down there," she pointed to her pelvis. "And we saw…, er, well, never mind," she said, thinking it would be too much information.

"Oh Rose, I'm so happy and relieved," Jackie said, releasing the hug and then grabbing John in one.

"Congratulations Sweetheart," Pete said. "And good luck with the new job both of you."

**Torchwood Special Operations Standby Room.**

**Torchwood Tower, Canary Wharf.**

It was 08:00, and Captain Andy McNab was waiting for everyone in Blue Watch to grab a tea or coffee and assemble around the media displays to start the morning briefings.

"Morning people, I hope you've had an enjoyable and relaxing weekend and are ready for another week of weirdness," he started. "Just a couple of news items before we start; your briefing this morning, and from now on will be given by the new Senior Shift Supervisor, Rose Smith." There was a round of applause, with whoops, whistles, and cheers.

"Next, the scientific support will be coordinated by the new Senior Scientific Advisor, Dr. John Smith." There was another round of applause, whoops, whistles, and cheers.

"And finally, before I hand over to Supervisor Smith, I would like to introduce a new member of the medical team."

John and Rose looked at each other, frowning at how they had missed this information.

"She's newly qualified, and has agreed to do her Foundation Year One with us here at Torchwood. Ladies and gentlemen, please give a big Torchwood welcome to Dr. Marla Jones."

"WHAT!?" John and Rose shouted together.

Jack walked into the Standby Room, with Marla on his arm, to tumultuous applause. John and Rose ran over and gave her a big hug.

"What's going on?" John asked. "I thought you were starting at the Republican Hope."

Jack laughed. "She was, but after the debrief with Duncan, it turned out that she had an aptitude for dealing with alien casualties." He looked at Rose. "Remember Tarzan? So we contacted the Republican Hope, and asked if she could transfer here."

"Oh that is SO brilliant," Rose said, giving her a hug.

"Yeah, after my experience in those kennels, I kind of got bitten by the weirdness bug," she said with a smile.

"That's how it got me when I first went in the TARDIS," Rose told her with a laugh.

When they finished their hug, John stepped up and had a hug as well. "Welcome aboard, you're going to love it here." He turned to Andy. "And she's already got a nickname, it's Martha."

Andy grinned at him. "Fair enough…, right then, Rose if you'd like to take over?"

Rose had a big grin on her face. "Right then people, I hope you've had an enjoyable and relaxing weekend and are ready for another week of wonderful weirdness…."

* * *

Rose easily settled into her new role, having performed it in the past when she was pregnant with both EJ and Juleshka. That morning, she had deployed the teams on various investigations, sent out a crime scene forensic team, and spoken to a detective at Scotland Yard to offer advice.

At around eleven o'clock, she was ready for a cup of tea. ["Fancy a brew?"] She thought to John.

["Mmmm, that's a nice idea, I'm on my way."]

A few minutes later, John walked into the Supervisors Office, and grabbed his wife around the waist, pulling her into a kiss. "So, how's the first day on the job then?"

"Fairly routine so far, it's all about allocation of resources."

"Ooh, I love it when you talk technical."

"Shut up an' drink yer tea," she said, kissing him on the lips. "An' how's your mornin' been?"

"Fairly routine for me too, being brilliant as usual, showing the guys in the lab how impressive I am," he said with a cheeky smile.

"Showin' off yer mean."

"Oi, I do not show off."

Rose laughed and was about to respond when the intercom bleeped on her desk. She looked at the flashing button, and it was the Despatch Office. "Hi Craig, what can I do for ya?"

"Hi Rose, can you come and check the satellite feed from Jupiter Fifteen, it's picking up possible targets heading this way."

"Yeah, sure, I'm on my way." She stood up, took her jacket off the back of the chair, and shrugged it on. "Duty calls," she said giving him a wink, and pressing the amber alert button.

They left the office and walked over to Despatch, carrying their mugs of tea. The Despatch office was the hub of Special Operations, and was like the high tech offices that you see behind the news readers on TV. Craig 'Ace' Rimmer was the agent on despatch for this shift, and he was wearing a microphone headset to coordinate all the agents out in the field.

"What's the story?" John asked as he went over to the satellite desk and sat down.

"Multiple targets started appearing, over two hundred at the moment and rising. They are one hundred and seventy million miles out, and heading this way," Craig told him. "Rose, I've got Torchwood New York on video call."

"Put them through."

Todd Hunter appeared on a screen above the desks. "Oh, Rose, it's you. Congratulations on your new post, that uniform suits you."

"Hi Todd, news sure travels fast around here."

"Yeah, my father and Andy gossip worse than a couple of old women." Todd's father was an ex Navy Seal, and was head of Special Operations in New York. "Have you seen the satellite feed?"

"Yeah, we're lookin' at it now, my scientific advisor is analysing the data," she said with a smile. "Have you got anythin' your end?"

"We've put in a request to NASA to point the Hubble telescope at them to see if we can get a detailed visual."

"I'm trying to 'ping' their transponders, but nothing is coming back," John said. "They're on silent running, and they're coming in fast, should be here for afternoon tea."

"Any idea on their identity or intention?" Rose asked, keeping her cool, professional composure, but inside, starting to worry.

"Without the transponder response, they could be anybody. If one of the satellites is close enough we may be able to analyse the engine exhaust. As to intent, they may be rushing to tell us some really great news, running from an even larger force, or coming to attack us, knowing our luck, I know which one my money's on."

Rose looked back to Todd on the screen. "How long before Hubble can get us a look at them?"

"Fifteen to twenty minutes, I'll 'piggyback' the images directly to you."

"Thanks Todd, stay on the line, we may need to coordinate a response if it is a threat."

"Sure thing Rose."

Rose looked down at Craig. "Give Jack a call; I think he needs to see this."

Seventeen minutes later, the Hubble telescope managed to lock onto one of the five hundred and twenty approaching targets, and beam the image to JPL in Pasadena. The image of a large, ugly ship appeared simultaneously in London and New York.

"Oh well isn't that just wizard," John's inner Donna said.

Rose came and put a hand on his shoulder. "What is it John, who are they?" Jack came and stood the other side of him, looking at the image.

"You've met them before, both of you," John told them. "You Rose, beat the crap out of one of them, in that epic display of kung fu prowess." He was referring to the time when the Earth nearly became a planet full of zombies, to be sold as an army of dead soldiers.

"Caxtarids," Jack and Rose said together.

"Yeah, and I don't think they've come to say hello, have a chat, drink tea or eat cake."

"Can I talk to them?" Jack asked.

"Hang on; I'll set up a hyper wave transmission." John operated a few controls and then nodded in satisfaction. "There we are, they have your undivided attention."

"This is Captain Jack Harkness, Director of the Torchwood Institute in London, calling the commander of the Caxtarid fleet currently approaching our planet. Please halt your approach and state your intention."

There was no response.

"They can hear me, right?"

"Yes, but whether they choose to listen is another matter," John said philosophically.

"Right, time to invoke a little galactic law then," Jack said as he picked up a tablet PC and searched the database. "Ah, that's the one," he announced as he found what he was looking for. Unlike John, who could recite the Shadow Proclamation regulations, conventions and articles in his sleep, Jack had to look them up.

"I seek communication with the commander of the approaching Caxtarid fleet under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation."

There was a long pause, and then a humanoid alien with metallic red hair, and red eyes appeared on a screen. "The Shadow Proclamation? A bunch of ineffectual policemen, with idiot Judoon as their constables," the Caxtarid said his voice full of scorn. "So we will not halt our approach, and as for our intention, we intend to wipe your meddling species from the face of your planet, and sell any survivors as slaves."

"This planet is defended, and we will use lethal force," Jack told him.

The Caxtarid laughed. "Your puny defences are no match against a Caxtarid battle fleet. In fact, if you surrender now, we will only kill the adult males, the females and the children will be sold as slaves."

"Turn around and leave, and we will spare your fleet," Jack bluffed. The screen went blank, this conversation was over.

"Well, that told you," John said without any humour in his voice, in fact, Rose thought she heard something in his voice that she hadn't heard since they'd been in the old universe. She didn't have time to contemplate that though, she was Senior Shift Supervisor, and it was her responsibility to coordinate a response.

"Craig, go to alert status red, call back as many of the watch that aren't on a high priority mission." She looked up at Todd on the screen. "Did you get that Todd?"

"Yeah, we got it," he responded.

"I need to speak to the president," Jack said and headed out of the Despatch Office.

"John, have we got anything that can protect us against Caxtarid warships, or take them out?"

John looked up from the console. "Not on this planet, no. If they decided to land, then some special forces troops might stand a chance, but why bother to land when you can take us out from orbit?"

"What do we do then, is this it, the end of the human race?" She asked, her heart heavy with the realisation that they were on the verge of extinction.

He reached over and held her hand. "Hey, not on my watch," he said with a smile, desperately trying to think of a way to defend the Earth. "If only we had a weapon large enough to threaten them with, we could achieve a Nash Equilibrium."

"What's one of those then?" Rose asked.

"John Forbes Nash Junior, was a Senior Research Mathematician at Princeton University, in 1950 he produced his thesis on the concepts in non-cooperative games."

"A nice history lesson John, but if you hadn't noticed, there's a fleet of battleships comin' to wipe us out, I don't think they want to play games," Rose said in exasperation.

"Have you heard of mutually assured destruction, M-A-D? I always thought that was very apt, calling it mad," John said with a grin.

"Wasn't that America and Russia with their stockpile of nuclear weapons?"

"Yes, a Nash equilibrium is a set of strategies where no combatant can do better by unilaterally changing his or her strategy, which means, if they hit us, we hit them."

"But as you said, there's nothin' on Earth that can stop them, even the TARDIS has no weapons," Rose reminded him. "What about the extrapolator shield, is there anyway of, I don't know…, boostin' it, y'know to extend its range or somethin'?"

John shook his head slowly. "No, it doesn't work like that…, oh, hang on, hang on, wait a minute, wind back a bit, you said there's nothing on Earth that can stop them," he said excitedly.

"Well, actually, you said it first," she said, looking puzzled.

"Oh Rose, you're a genius, that's brilliant. You're right, I did say it first, didn't I," he said with a grin and a glint in his eyes that Rose recognised.

"You've thought of somethin', haven't ya..., you've got a plan," she said with a knowing smile.

"When have I ever had a plan? But I do have an idea, think back to the old universe and how you escaped from Krop Tor," he said.

"Well, it was in the escape rocket…, but what's that got to do with anythin'?"

"And how did the rocket escape the pull of the black hole? And then think about the Dalek Crucible, how did we get the Earth back in its orbit?"

"You used the TARDIS to pull the rocket from the black hole, and she towed the Earth back to its original position."

"And she could tow a fleet of battleships to the largest weapon in the solar system…, the Sun."

"Oh my God John, that's brilliant.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

John had parked the TARDIS fifty million miles out from the Sun, near the orbit of Mars. He didn't want to drag any asteroids out of orbit, that would cause chaos, and he didn't want to create more of that than he needed to. While he waited for the invasion fleet to pass through the asteroid field, he thought about how things in general tended to work out for him.

'Time! Why did it always come down to time?' he thought to himself. Even when he had been a full Time Lord, he'd never had enough of the stuff for himself. There were quintillions of years of the stuff, thirteen and a half billion up to when he was now, and trillions to come, and yet he was never given enough for his own personal use. And now the Caxtarids had turned up, obviously pissed off at Torchwood for ruining another one of their money making ventures.

John had nothing against free enterprise, and people earning a living, making their way in the universe, it was just that the Caxtarids, tended to do it by causing misery for everyone else. They were ruthless slave traders, who liked nothing more than a bit of recreational torture. Why was it, when he tried to help people and make the universe a better place, did the bad guys try and annihilate entire populations, just to show how pissed off they were with him?

In the Despatch Office, back on Earth, Jack paced impatiently back and forth, checking the satellite feed every couple of minutes. Rose, on the other hand, drank her tea, and chatted with her co-conspirator Chrissie, who was also wearing the same uniform as Rose, and the pair of them looked like a couple of WREN's from the war room of a 1940's film.

Jack checked the satellite image again, and it looked like the fleet were in open space again. As if to confirm this, John's voice came over the speaker.

"Places everyone please; final curtain call for Mr. Harkness."

"At last, are you ready John?"

"Yep, ready and waiting."

"Alright then, let's make this convincing, we'll only get one shot at this, so let's make 'em believe it."

Rose and Chrissie took their seats at the console, and Jack turned to Craig. "Okay Craig, open a hyperwave channel to the Caxtarids."

Craig flicked a few switches. "Channel open."

Jack cleared his throat. "Commander of the Caxtarids invasion fleet, this is Captain Jack Harkness, Director of Torchwood One in London. This is a final request for you to turn around and leave our system peacefully. If you choose not to leave, then you leave us no choice than to take action against you."

The laughing face of the Caxtarid commander appeared on the screen. "Hah! We have scanned your planet, and you have nothing that can harm us, even the few pitiful nuclear weapons you have are harmless to us."

Jack smiled at him. "Ah, then you've make the fundamental error that all the other invaders made." He saw the commanders smile suddenly disappear. "We do not keep our weapons on the planet."

He looked down to Chrissie, and the camera panned down to her. "Technical Lead Supervisor Anderson, would you target the invasion force please."

"Certainly, Director Harkness," she said with a dramatic air.

["We should put on a panto at Christmas, the way these two are hamming it up, it'd be a sell out,"] John thought to Rose.

["Shut up, I'm on camera and I've got to keep a straight face,"] Rose admonished. ["Remember, this is for the planet."]

["Ah, right, sorry, it's just that I'm nervous, and you know what I'm like when I'm nervous."]

["Yeah..., adorable."]

"Target acquired, Director."

"Thank you, Senior Supervisor Smith, activate the Gravity Lens," commanded Jack.

"Yes Director," Rose said, and pressed the big red button on the desk.

"Gravity Lens, what nonsense is this?" The commander asked. "What is a Gravity Lens?" Jack did the fingers across the throat gesture and Craig cut the transmission.

All Chrissie had done was set the coordinates of one of the satellites to point at the Caxtarids, Rose had pushed a big red button that the guys in the workshop had rigged up to look important. Rose smiled at that, John always liked a big red button.

In the TARDIS, John started the time rotor, and generated the gravity well that would pull the Caxtarids ships towards him. He then set course across the system towards the Sun.

"Okay Jack, I've started to pull them off course, they should notice any time now. I'm routing all communications to Laland 21185, their home planet," John said.

"Thanks John, oh, here they are, I think they've noticed something, open a channel Craig."

"What have you done?" The Caxtarid asked, without preamble. "We are being pulled off course."

"Ah Commander, please remember your manners, the leaders on your home world are watching. You are being pulled towards our star, where its gravity will capture you, and you will perish in the nuclear furnace."

"That's impossible; you don't have the technology to do that."

"That's right we don't, but our friends do, and now you have about one hour to decide what you want to do. The leaders on your world can order you to abort your failed mission, leave our system, and never return. You can decide to make a tactical withdrawal, leave, and again, never return, or you can do nothing and fall into the Sun. It's your choice, you have one hour." Craig killed the feed, and everyone did a high five.

Rose walked over to Craig at the communications desk. "Can you get John on there?"

"Sure thing Rose." He opened a video link to the TARDIS, and John came on the screen, holding a mug of tea.

"You're alright then," Rose laughed as he took a sip of his tea.

"Yep, they've tried a few fancy manoeuvres to try and wriggle free, vectoring their thrust and stuff, but they are well and truly stuck in my web."

It occurred to Rose what might happen in an hours time. "John, we're not goin' to let 'em fall into the Sun are we?"

John ran his fingers through his hair, and rubbed the back of his neck. The last time he'd been forced into a Nash Equilibrium, he'd been a cold blooded warrior, fashioned by the Sisterhood of Karn, and he'd ended the equilibrium in spectacular fashion. Now he was a Human - Time Lord Metacrisis, and Rassilon knows how that was going to end. Had he been given more time, he may have been able to come up with a better plan, but now all he had to fall back on, was that very human ploy of mutually assured destruction, and his ability to talk a good fight.

"Er…, I hope not," is all he could say, any argument Rose could formulate, he had already agonised over himself. Hell, the Caxtarids would probably even enjoy watching each other boil to death. But humans, and a Metacrisis hybrid, wouldn't enjoy the thought of them doing that.

Jack came over and put an arm around Rose's shoulders. "John, we can't let them go, they'll just turn around and wipe us out." He looked down at Rose's pleading face. "We've done the best we can; all we can do now is hope that their survival instinct overrides their pride."

"Oh I think their economic instinct may override both of those," John said, taking another sip of tea. "It takes a lot of money to build five hundred and twenty spaceships, not to mention all the investment in training the crews. I think that the High Command on Laland 21185, may have the last word."

"I think you're right John," Craig said. "I've been monitoring the hyperwave traffic, and they are trying a number of strategies to escape from the gravity well."

"And when they realise that they are trapped, they'll ask us to let them go," John said with a smile.

"Right, keep monitoring the traffic Craig, I want to know the moment they come to a decision," Jack said.

Rose went back to her office to keep an eye on the status of the field missions. Some of the teams had returned, and were on standby, should the Caxtarids decide to 'kick off'. She reduced the alert status back to amber while the invasion fleet were trapped in the gravity well. All the while, she was keeping an eye on the clock, they had about fifteen minutes left before they passed the point of no return, and the Sun would pull them to their death.

At five minutes to solar capture, Rose went back to Despatch, and met Jack heading in the same direction. "Any news?" She asked, and Jack shook his head.

"I thought it was just you and John who left things to the last minute," Jack said with a smile.

"Should we contact them and ask them if they've come to a decision?"

"Definitely not," Jack said emphatically. "That will show a weakness on our part and they will know that they can come back and try again. They have to ask us to let them go, surrender if you like."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. I just wonder if all the crewmen would agree with their commander, given the option."

As they contemplated that, Craig turned to Jack. "It's gone quiet; I think their High Command is in a high level meeting. The commander has carried out all the procedures that their engineers and scientists have suggested, and has reported back that nothing has worked."

"Anytime now then," Jack said, checking his watch again. "How long before they pass the point of no return, Doc?"

"Well, there are a lot of variables, mass, velocities, available thrust…, three minutes maximum," John said.

The Despatch Office was silent as they watched the second hand of the clock complete a rotation, and start another.

"This is Gorash Talvarreh, of the Ke Caxtari High Council, on Laland 21185," a Caxtarid said, appearing on the view screen. He was wearing official robes and chains of office, and swallowed as though his next words were leaving an unpleasant taste in his mouth. "I seek communication with the Director of the Torchwood One Institute on planet Earth, under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation."

A lesser man would have gloated at their victory, but this was Jack Harkness, and he was a better man. He'd learnt diplomacy the hard way, and he knew the strength of character needed to admit defeat and ask for clemency.

The clock was still ticking away the seconds.

"High Councillor Talvarreh, I am Captain Jack Harkness, Director of Torchwood One, how may I help you?"

"A fleet of Caxtarid vessels has inadvertently wandered into your system, and mistakenly perceived your world as a threat. You quite rightly have defended yourself with, may I say a most remarkable weapon. I was wondering if we could come to some arrangement that would prevent the loss of those vessels and their crews."

"Of course High Councillor, let me deactivate the weapon, and I will ask my Senior Scientific Advisor to instruct your commander on the best course to avoid crashing into our star."

Chrissie and Rose were back in their seats, playing their part in the deception. "Senior Supervisor Smith, deactivate the Gravity Lens," Jack said with as much pomp as he could muster.

"Yes Director," Rose said, trying not to giggle.

"Doctor Smith, can you transmit the best escape trajectory for the Caxtarid fleet?"

"Already done Director, it will be a bit warm for them as they will have to use the Sun's gravity to slingshot them around the far side and back out again." John didn't tell anyone that he had another fifteen minutes for the TARDIS to be able to pull the fleet clear of the Sun; a sense of jeopardy lends itself to making the right decisions when the chips are down.

"High Councillor, your fleet is safe, I trust that this is an end to any hostilities between our worlds, perceived or otherwise," Jack said.

"Thank you Director, I think we understand each other," the Caxtarid said with a smile.

"Indeed we do High Councillor," Jack said returning the humourless smile. "Indeed we do." He nodded at Craig, who cut the transmission.

"Yes!" Rose said, punching the air. Everyone cheered, hugged, and high fived.

"Good work Doc, make your way back in," Jack said over the video link, they'd done it, it was over, the threat was eliminated. They might be the 'Men in Black' of legend, a bit MI5 and CIA, but they were also a bit 'Foreign Office' as well. They were diplomats and ambassadors for the planet Earth.

"I'm on my way, put the kettle on will you, I think we've earned a cuppa," he said as they heard the sound of the TARDIS materialising in the Standby Room.

In the Standby Room, the members of Blue Watch were drinking tea and coffee relaxing as they waited for the end of their shift.

"So is that it then?" Rose asked Jack. "We just let them get away with everythin', kidnappin', attempted murder, attempted genocide?"

"Well, not really, the Shadow Proclamation are still investigating and reviewing all the evidence we've supplied. The banks have frozen their off world assets, setting them aside for possible compensation payouts," Jack explained.

"And, most of all," John added. "They know that they can't mess with planet Earth, it - is - defended."

**The End**


End file.
